Here's The Thing
by spacEnigma83
Summary: By request of a Mysterious Guest Reader I present a David/Emma Story which starts after the happenings of 2X16 "The Miller's Daughter" and will keep continuity with subsequent episodes. David sees so much of Mary Margaret/Snow White in Emma. He shares a few of his stories to try to make this point for her, but of course the way most story telling for men goes, he gets off topic...
1. Chapter 1

****I don't know who you are Guest Reviewer but this is the second time I've had a request for a David Emma story. Oddly enough though I already had a subject I wanted to delve in to with these two. I mean I know in a couple of my fics I've done a few Father Daughter moments but I'm guessing oh Guest reader that you were looking for something similar to my story "One Up" where it was mostly just about these two characters... right?**

**Now... I can't help if this story is just a tad similar to others I have written. I'm partial to certain themes and topics. :)**

**but here we go...**

**Timeline for now is right after the episode "The Miller's Daughter" 2X16 ****

**Here's The Thing**

The brunette lay in bed, facing away, in her own little world while David is left to sit wide awake and worry about her. He spares a glance over to her every so often but cannot manage to let himself fall asleep. He sits up and stares out in to the dark living room. He did not know how things were going to change but it was evident she would remain closed off for some time.

She had not done much talking to anyone since they left the scene of Gold's shop just hours ago. Things took an ugly turn once Regina put Cora's newly cursed heart back in to her body. Gold survived his poisoned wound and Cora was gone all because Regina believed Mary Margaret when she said Cora could not truly love without her heart. Desperate to experience the Love of her mother, something Snow White related to, Regina became the pawn in a messy scheme simply because she longed to experience that type of Love.

David sees the overhead light in the kitchen turn on and a figure moving about the room. Since he does not seem to be getting any sleep he decides to get up and investigate. "Emma?" David calls to her as he sees her sitting at the kitchen table. "It's the middle of the night... are you alright?" He asks.

She sighs. "Huh? Yeah... yeah I'm fine." She says groggily. "Henry is up there talking in his sleep. It's amazing how he's so willing to talk to me like that but not when he's awake. I just needed a bigger room to fill my crazy thoughts with." She says with a quiet laugh.

"Hmmm. You need an ear to air out those crazy thoughts?" He says with a small grin and a silly shake of his head to accompany the question.

Emma purses her lips, blinks a few times to fight off the sleep, and scoots up to the table to rest her arms on it as he pulls out a chair to sit across from her. "I guess today has just been a bit too exciting for me." She says with a grim quirk of her lips.

"Yeah. I hear ya... things have been crazy for the past couple of days actually. You and Henry left town and just when we thought things were going to be quiet for a while all hell broke loose. There was an angry giant in town, a pirate with his invisible ship that brought to us Cora and her chaos. Nonstop action in what used to be a really boring town... at least that's how I remember it. Then again I spent most of twenty eight years in a coma." He says with a quiet chuckle as he leans forward and smiles.

Emma smiles back through tired eyes. "Lucky you. Honestly I don't think you missed much." He nods and tries not to let his laughter escape him for fear he'll wake either Mary Margaret or Henry.

She sighs again and shuts her eyes as she leans back in the chair. "I was not expecting things to blow up the way they did. We went to New York with Gold and things seemed fine. I was there to do one thing... help Gold find his son, but I totally did not anticipate his son being... Neal." At this she cringes and puts her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes.

"Quite the surprise for everyone I'm guessing?" David suggests. "He gets under your skin doesn't he?"

Emma pulls away her hand that had been shading her eyes to give him a questioning look. "Why do you say that?"

"Back at the shop today before I walked in to check on you when I asked if everything was okay. It most definitely was _NOT_ okay." He says with a knowing nod to make his point.

"Yeah. It's just being with him... I felt like a teenager again. He just jumped right back in to being his same old immature self." She lets out a breathy laugh. "He was basically harassing me before you walked in... making fun of the fact that I have magic." She says with a roll of her eyes. "It was ridiculous."

Even though the apartment was sparsely lit it was evident, at least to David, that Emma was blushing. "You're so much like your mother." He says out of nowhere.

Emma gapes her mouth at the sudden change of subject. "What?" She asks with a furrow of her brow.

"When I first met Mary Margaret... Snow..." he starts to say thoughtfully, "She was very much like you are now. Very strong willed, self assured, or someone you might call... thick headed." He chuckles after this.

"Gee thanks." Emma says with a smile trying not to let this offend her.

He leans his elbows on the table, clasps his hands together, and then nods his head. Since his wife was not talking to him tonight he might as well take advantage of his time with Emma. So he started to recount aloud, "I was betrothed to princess Abigail when I met your Mother. Actually we were en route to my father's... well... King George's kingdom when your Mother set up an ambush and robbed me." He says meeting eyes with Emma.

"She robbed you?" She asks with a raised eyebrow in disbelief. "Snow White was a thief?"

"Yes, yes she was. She stole my jewels, my money, and... she stole my heart." He says with a thoughtful smile.

"Seriously?" She says trying to suppress a giggle. "Could you be anymore cheesy?"

"What can I say? It's the truth." He says with a shrug of his shoulders. "She stole from me and I had to get my engagement ring back. I didn't want just any thief to have it. It was my Mother's after all. I caught up to her right away. I took her down from her horse and that was when I first realized that she was a girl... oh excuse me... a woman. She was very quick to point that out to me when I called her a girl." He says widening his eyes for an exaggerated effect. "She... well she bested me." He says with a frown and a sigh at having to fess up to this.

"Oh, ho, ho... Nice!" Emma says nothing but impressed.

"Yes, your mother was able to subdue me and I will never again underestimate her in a physical fight." He says trying to defend himself. "I did manage to find her though. Actually I was amazed at how easily I was able to do that but then again it's just what we do. We always..."

"Find each other... " Emma finishes while rolling her eyes. " I know, I know." She says with a tilt of her head waiting for him to continue.

He shakes his head at her with a smile. "So much like your mother." He teases and she only rolls her eyes at him once more. "By the time I had caught up to her she had already sold my jewels to some trolls and the ring was among those items but we came to an agreement. Well... okay... it was more like I blackmailed her." He admits.

"Oh... so is that why she calls you Charming?" She asks playfully.

His only response is to shake his head while Emma quietly chuckles. He continues with his story. "I agreed not to turn her over to Regina, who had a bounty on her, in exchange for her help in getting my Mother's ring back. Our journey took us through the woods. We shared some small talk here and there, and the more I got to know her the more I felt like I had known her my whole life. I saved her once, she saved me once, and soon our little adventure was over. When it was time for us to go our separate ways I actually regretted letting her go. I had fallen for her right then and there but because of the life I had assumed as Prince James I had a royal obligation and that betrothal to honor. So I left... but not before I watched her put on my Mother's ring." He says with a smile at the memory.

"She put on the ring?" Emma asks confused. "Is that when you proposed to her?"

"No. She put it on right before handing it over to me. I watched her looking at it on her hand and it felt like my heart leapt out of my chest. It was the strangest thing. I almost told her not to take it off..." He says awkwardly at the admission, "Which is completely crazy as I had just met her, but then as she walked away I felt like a part of me left with her."

"Oh my God you are such a freaking romantic." She says with a huge smile on her face.

"Yes well the point of my story here, which you keep validating with every interruption you make..." he says quite chastising, "Is that you are a lot like your mother when I first met her. She did not believe in True Love or First kiss or Happy endings. She did not believe in Love at first sight. She was as skeptic about Love as you seem to be."

"Oh please... give me a freaking break." She says rolling her eyes and a huge smile spreads on her face.

"She was so sure that the stories about True Love were simply that... stories. She even shared with me how she was only stealing from the Queen in the hopes to save enough to escape to a place that was isolated where she could never get hurt. Now what I failed to ask her was why she was expecting to get hurt when she was so adamant about True Love not existing." He says with a tilt of his head and a smug quirk of his lip. Emma just shoots him a skeptical look of her own simply not impressed with his gloating.

Unfazed by this he continues. "I saw the way she looked at me when I saved her. I heard the astonishment in her voice as she whispered _You Saved Me_. She might deny it to the very end but I know that on that day her perceptions of Love had changed. I mean that was only the beginning and anytime I saw her after that we were always fighting to be together but the point is she was a skeptic much like you are now about the nature of Love."

He takes a moment to gauge Emma's expression. She seems quite content with the findings of this story but he simply needs to ask. "So now tell me... when I suggested that Neal gets under your skin why did you blush not a moment later at the thought of him?" He says as a satisfied grin spreads across his face.

Emma only gawks completely thrown, yet again, at how easily he changes the subject on her.

****I have an idea of where to go with this but I need a break here to put it together because right now it's only a mess of ideas and words. Of course if I get bored with this I might stop but for now it's looking to be a at least few more chapters long. Reviews might help me make up my mind. We'll see. ;) ****


	2. Chapter 2

****An Update so soon? Yes, I'm surprised too just don't get used to it. I don't expect it to happen again. Not THIS quickly anyway. :)**

**Well... I wasn't sure how this story would be received. Nice to see some familiar readers/reviewers cheering me on here and a few new ones. I greatly appreciate those comments! Thank you.**

**By the way "swister" I would definitely jump at the chance to write some scenes for the show. Who wouldn't? One can only dream. ;) ****

**Chapter 2**

"Woah, woah, woah... hold on a minute. That has nothing to do with anything you're talking about." Emma says sitting back in her chair. Her faces suddenly awash with a flustered expression. "I'm... I'm not in love with Neal okay?" She says quite loudly but then looks around and lowers her voice. "He's... he's just some guy I dated years ago. He's nothing to me." She says with a glare that so much as dares the man to push this subject.

David only grins and can't help but think to himself, _So much like her Mother._ He takes a deep breath and sighs before he leans forward to meet her glaring gaze."Deep down I think you know better than that. I mean I don't trust him. He is Rumpel's son after all but at some point in time you did love him. It's why you'll get defensive when I ask you about him. It's why you will continue to blush at the thought of him. It's why you'll see his face when you look at Henry. You can't help that. I'm not telling you that you're still in love with him but what you had... well... I can tell that you remember it all too well. He's a part of your past and I know he hurt you. I mean I don't know the whole story and I'm not asking you tell it to me but I know you don't _WANT_ to love him." He says leaning forward searching out her gaze. "... and If he tries to hurt you now Emma I will most definitely be the one to beat him senseless." He says with a hearty chuckle.

Emma laughs and shakes her head. "Thanks... and you're right." She unwillingly relents with a sigh. "Some part of me is always going to care. I hate that."

David begins to laugh and fights hard not to let it get too loud. He's almost in hysterics and Emma is not taking too kindly to this. "What the hell? You don't have to make fun of me." She says quite offended.

"No, no..." he hurries to say trying to get a hold of himself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." he says shaking his head reaching across the table to grab her by the wrist while still doing a terrible job of composing himself. "I'm not making fun of you Emma. I'm sorry..." He says and the laughter finally fades but the happy smile on his face does not. "I only laughed because of what I said to you just then about you not wanting to love him. It reminded me of something and I guess... well... I have another story to tell you." David looks over to the bedroom where Mary Margaret still sleeps before he turns back to Emma with a sad smile. "You still don't understand that you are so much like your Mother."

"Okay... fine... tell me." She says still not appreciative of his uncalled for laughter but curious enough to hear him out.

"I couldn't stop thinking about Snow since our time in the forest. King George threatened me, told me to forget about her, but I couldn't even if I really wanted to. So I asked her to come to me. I... I needed to know if she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her and she did come but not with the news I was expecting." He frowns at this.

"So... she didn't love you then?" Emma asks confused.

"At least she told me as much. I thought that was the end of it. I had no reason to live and I sure wasn't about to marry Abigail when I did not love her in the least. I planned to leave the palace but King George was not a man to be trifled with. He sent his men after me determined to push this loveless marriage on me no matter the cost. What he wasn't counting on was the fact that Abigail might interfere."

"Huh..." Emma scoffs. "So what happened then?"

"I was on the run from what I thought were King George's guards but it turned out to be Princess Abigail and some of her guards. She told me that she wanted to help me. She had heard that I was in love with Snow White and she did not want to marry me anymore than I wanted to marry her. I was confused at first. I didn't believe her until she told me about the man she once loved. Abigail was the daughter of King Midas."

Emma gasps in disbelief. "The guy who turned stuff in to gold… that Midas?"

"One in the same." David says with a nod. "Apparently the love of her life was one of Midas' men. He had accidentally been turned to gold trying to protect the King and he remained that way..." He stops midsentence to eye his daughter. "Emma... I'm not making the point I meant to make here. I meant to tell you about the potion your Mother tried to use to..."

"No no... No cliffhangers." She waves her hand to warn him. "I want to hear this. Go on." Emma insists.

He smiles and nods. "Alright... but don't think I'm going to forget. I did have a point to make after all... you being so much like..."

"Yeah, yeah... I'm like my mother with her chin and all." She says quite annoyed. "So what's the deal with Midas' daughter?"

David chuckles quietly and continues. "Well, the man she was in love with had been turned to gold protecting the King. As a gentlemen and a man without a cause at the moment I decided to help her to change him back. She told me how the only way to restore him was to use the waters of this lake, Lake Nostos, which had certain magical properties that could return to you something that was once lost."

Emma's eyes dart around quickly. "Why do I feel like I've heard that before?" She ponders aloud as she shakes her head.

"This lake was supposedly guarded by some sort of creature that would drown its victims. I figured that one of us might as well find happiness and if I didn't live to tell the tale then so be it. I mean I had nothing to live for since your mother told me she did not love me. Right?" He says with a nod of his head. "So I set off to find this lake. I made it by nightfall and called out to this guardian of the lake. To my surprise it was a woman, a siren. The siren intended to lure me in with what I truly wanted most, my heart's desire, Snow White. She transformed into an illusion of her before my eyes and I was nearly fooled by this. I was so desperate for your mother at this point that I was about ready to drown and I almost did not have a choice in that. I managed to fight the siren, kill her, and bring back that water for Princess Abigail and because of what had transpired at that lake with the siren I knew now that my only heart's desire was Snow White. So there I was on a new journey. I was going to tell her, do all I could to convince her, that we belonged together."

"David..." Emma starts to ask squinting her eyes in thought for a moment. "Who is Abigail in Storybrooke?"

David remains silent for a moment and then meets that squinting glare. He decides to avoid the question altogether, "So... I set off on my way to find your Mother." He says with a bow of his head and a subtle smirk.

**** I hate when people change the subject on me like that but here it's just funny. ;)****


	3. Chapter 3

****OMG guys! Did you see the ABC preview for the season 2 episodes to come? You can expect at least one father daughter "moment". I just thought that was a nice thing for you who seem to be looking for some of those.****

**Chapter 3**

Emma continues to glare at David because he has decided to ignore her question in reference to who Abigail is in Storybrooke.

Right in to his story he goes. "I managed to find this little cottage of solitude Snow had made for herself but she wasn't there. Instead I found Red or... well Ruby. She said that Snow never made it back after going to the castle, after she told me she did not love me. Red also explained that Snow never intended to go to the castle to say what she did. In truth she wanted to be with me. I felt like there was some hope after all which of course led me on a whole new adventure. Never a dull moment… which is probably why I'm so at home here now with all the chaos." He says with a huge grin on his face.

"It's someone I know isn't it?" Emma asks narrowing her eyes still wanting an answer to the Abigail question.

Of course David continues to brush this question aside. "So… I had to find Snow and the only way to do that was by making a senseless deal with someone who we have both come to distrust with every fiber of our being."

"Well it's obviously not Regina because she was The Evil Queen not a Princess and her name hasn't changed from one realm to another..." Emma concludes but not over whom David is trying to describe at the moment.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" He says rather loudly with a nod trying to get Emma off this Abigail track. "I heard that Snow went to him for help. After finding a Knight cowering in the dark, nude at that, he said Snow nearly killed him or at least threatened to kill him. She managed to scare enough information out of him to find out where Regina was. I found Rumpelstiltskin's castle and questioned him. I wanted to know what he did that changed Snow but he said it wasn't what he did but what I did. Apparently she was suffering such a broken heart over me that she went to him for a fix. He gave her a potion to forget me, or more importantly, it helped her to forget that she had ever loved at all. She became dark and only sought revenge on Regina. She came to Rumpel just hours before me to ask for his assistance once more and he sent her on her way with the chance to end Regina once and for all."

"She was going to kill her?" Emma asks suddenly worried. "Well obviously she didn't follow through with that otherwise she wouldn't be here today."

"No. Rumpel… he told me where I could find Snow but not without a fair amount of warning that if I didn't get to her before she could act she would become as Evil as the woman she wanted dead. Suddenly I felt responsible for her. At that moment I knew that the goodness, the pureness, the very essence of Snow White lay in my hands. So I had to hurry to stop her from making what I thought was the biggest mistake of her life."

"You mean up until now." Emma says with a frown and then she lets out a sigh as she leans her head on the back of the chair.

"Yes…" He says knowingly. The words that Rumpelstiltskin spoke back then rang just as true in his ear now, _"Evil isn't born it's made. If Snow starts down that road you'll never get her back." _Suddenly a pang of guilt hits him for leading the story in this direction but he wanted to finish telling it. They both needed this distraction. "I…" He sighs and tries to continue. "I went to find Snow to stop her the only way I knew how. I had to find her and kiss her because if it was True Love it would break the curse the potion had put her under. I found her just in time. I managed to ambush her just as she drew back her bow and I pulled her to me and kissed her… but things… well they did not go the way I had planned. The next thing I knew she was punching me in the face."

Emma lets out a gasp of a laugh and tilts her head still resting on the chair to get a good look at the man sitting across from her now. "Yep… Definitely sounds like something I would do."

He gives her a sad smile. "When I finally came to she had me tied to a tree. I was confused as to why the kiss did not work and she said simply because she did not love me, which of course was true because of the potion. You should have heard the spiel she gave me about what Love is. If she was a skeptic before I met her… this person she had become now was downright bitter and disbelieving. Let's see… how did it go?" He pauses to think back on that day in the forest and the words Snow had used. _Words,_ he thinks in his mind.

"It went something like… Words_, words, words… that's all love is_, and words did not mean anything to her. She said the only thing that meant anything to her was taking action which is what she was set on doing at that very moment. So she set off once more to attempt to kill Regina leaving me behind bound to that tree. I was worried."

"So uh... did your masculine rage bust you free?" Emma asks with a chuckle. "… because I watched her tie Hook to a tree and there was no way he was getting out of that on his own."

"Actually… Jiminy Cricket came by." He admits quite embarrassed.

"A cricket… really? Archie in his cricket form Jiminy… Cricket?" Emma asks trying her best to keep this conversation serious.

"Yes. He came around and got me loose but he also gave me some good advice as he so often does. He explained that she could not remember me if she had lost sight of who she really was. I had to try to make her see, to make her remember the good person she once was. So as soon as I was free I went to find her and this time make no mistake, I would not be wasting words. If she wanted action… she would get it."

"Okay Mr. Man of Action…" Emma jibes.

David shakes his head and chuckles quietly. "As she went to pull back on her bow I jumped out right in front of her, taking the arrow she meant for Regina. Lucky we were far enough away that no one noticed us. No one noticed her fussing angrily over me. No one noticed the fact that there had been an attempt on the Queen's life at all. I can't even remember what I said to her to pull her out of her grumblings but I know that somehow I convinced her... finally convinced her that I loved her and she ended up kissing me. She... she was the one who broke the effects of the potion up because in that moment she fell in love with me and because I already loved her True Love in essence had conquered."

"Please don't say... _and we lived_ _Happily Ever After_." Emma says quite sarcastically.

"Emma, does this look like happily ever after?" He retorts just as sarcastically.

"Okay... I thought you were supposed to be convincing me how much like my Mother I am, not how sarcastic and annoying I am like my Dad." She says with a dramatic shake of her head and an unimpressed glare.

David cannot help but chuckle. "Huh... well I guess I just assumed that was something you got from your Mother. It must have rubbed off on me. Marriage does that to ya." He says with a wink.

"Right." Emma says still squinting but she manages to smirk. She stifles a yawn with a fist. "I think I should try to get some sleep." She says as she gets up from her chair and slides it under the table.

"Yeah... I'll try and do the same." He says getting up and doing the same with a yawn and all. As Emma walks towards the stairway David reaches out to grasp at her wrist and pull her back. She turns around to meet him with a questioning gaze. He simply pulls her by the hand in to a hug which she does not seem to fight, simply resting her head against his shoulder for a moment smiling to herself. "I hope you know by now that I'm here for you if you need me..." He kisses the top of her head and finally says, "Goodnight Emma."

She pulls away from him with a shy smile, not willing to meet his gaze, "Goodnight" she whispers to him as she makes her way up the stairs.

****I hate fishing for reviews but if there is still interest in this story I can pick up after the episode "Welcome to Storybrooke" 2X17. I'll just need time to piece that together as I am having trouble concentrating these days but it doesn't have to end here is all I'm saying... Thanks for reading :)****


	4. Chapter 4

****Wow, I thought I was in the ZONE but I had a hard time picking this back up... but I didn't want to let anyone down so here you go. :)****

**Chapter 4**

David was driving distractedly on his way to meet Emma. She had called him frantic because Henry had given Neal the slip while at the diner. They decided to all meet up at the diner and take off from there.

"Neal." David grumbles to himself with a shake of his head. The man left his daughter to rot in a prison. Sure the fact that she got involved with a criminal should be more of an issue, but then again the story he told the night before of a thieving Snow White did not help in the development of an argument for that.

As he pulls in to a parking space in front of the diner Emma comes out to meet him. She's talking to Neal under her breath, not looking directly at him, only looking to David with what looks to be a relieved expression. He opens the door of his truck then steps out to stand and ask her, "So do we have an idea of where to look?"

"Not a one but Ruby will be out in a second to… uh… to help us sniff him out." She says with an uncomfortable smile.

David nods but cannot keep from eyeing Neal as the man stands uncomfortably on the sidewalk next to Emma. This was turning out to be a very busy morning… what with Regina trying to enact a curse of the empty hearted on Henry, Gold being somewhat uncooperative in protecting Mary Margaret from said curse caster, and Henry running away from Neal and Emma. "Just great…" David mutters under his breath.

"Alright I'm ready." Ruby says as she makes her way out the front of the diner.

Ruby, with her she wolf tracking skills, picks up Henry's trail as it leads the group to the mines where the dwarves had been mining for diamonds. David deduces that Henry came by to take back some of the dynamite from the site.

"What the hell would he want dynamite for?" Emma asks.

"To get rid of Magic." Neal offers all too quickly.

"Wait… what?" Emma asks confused.

"At the diner… he said he wanted to get rid of magic." Neal adds somewhat reluctantly.

"Well… how does he think he's going to accomplish that?" Emma asks as she looks to David.

"I'm not sure." He says with a shrug. "Ruby… do you think you can…?"

"I'm on it. He left a little while ago. Come on." Ruby says as she heads back out of the entrance of the mines leading them away.

Eventually the group makes their way out to the woods edge and Emma starts to realize, "I think I know where he's going. The old well that Mary Margaret and I came back through. That has to be where he's going."

At the well not only do they find Henry but Regina is there speaking to him. Whether she got there before him or met him after is anyone's guess at this point but she was trying to convince Henry that she was only going to use this spell to get him back because she loves him.

Henry manages to step up during this altercation between Regina and the rest of his family. He begs Regina for help in trying to get rid of Magic simply so that everyone would be safe from its effects. While she does not have a way of doing that she offers up instead to sacrifice the parchment on which the spell of the empty hearted was written. In doing so she sacrificed the chance of taking him against his will which she hoped proved herself in trying to do better, to be better for him. He thanked her but made his way to Emma who grabbed him the instant he was within her reach and he clung to her for those few brief seconds before making his way over to Neal and leaving the woods in their company.

After leaving Neal back at his father's home David, Emma, and Henry made their way back to the apartment. David is the first to step inside. He turns on the light of the living room and looks in the direction of the bedroom where Mary Margaret still lies. A sigh of relief escapes him.

Henry rushes up to the bedroom still not willing to speak with anyone about what happened today, especially not Emma. She stands in the middle of the apartment and watches him as he does so. She takes off her coat hanging it on a hook near the door and then drags herself to the kitchen table to sit down.

"Do you want some coffee? I'm going to have some." David asks as he starts to walk to the kitchen.

"Sure." She offers tiredly. "Thanks for coming out to help. I know you didn't want to leave her here alone."

"No… but I'm glad Gold finally came around to watch over her. I'm not too surprised he was gone before we got back though."

"Yeah... he's quite the family man." Emma says sarcastically with a huff as she rests her forehead against the kitchen table.

David comes back to the table some time later with two coffee mugs in hand. He sets one down and slides it forward so that she will hear it. She sits up to take it from him, "Thanks." She takes a sip from the mug and shuts her eyes for a moment. When she opens her eyes she finds David looking back to Mary Margaret's room staring. "So has she said anything to do you today?"

"Nope. Not a word." He says as he lifts his own coffee mug to his lips.

"I miss her." Emma says quietly.

"We all do." He says with a sad smile staring into his mug.

Emma takes a moment to look the man over. He's clearly being beaten down by all the silence and she was right there with him because of Henry. "You know last night was nice... the stories you shared. It's more than I've ever done with her." She says with a raise of her eyebrows. "I mean you know we talked before the curse... she and I did. It's obvious that's why I stuck around here but we never really... I mean when the curse broke we never really talked." She says with a shrug.

"No... I guess we've all just been too caught up with other things but oddly enough now you and I have all this free time." He says with another sad smile.

"Yeah the whole silent treatment from both sides thing." She says with a nod. "You know the last time she was this quiet was when she was crying over you." Emma offers as she sips from her coffee mug once more.

"Crying over me?" He says with a now honest smile. "Really?"

"I probably shouldn't have told you that..." Emma says with a cringe.

"Too late to take it back now." He says smiling as he leans forward on the table, sliding his mug off to the side.

Emma shakes her head and says, "Well it's not like she's going to come out here and stop me now is she? Alright... but I don't remember exactly what happened that day. I'll tell you what I do remember. Earlier that day she tried to tell me how she had secretly been seeing you... you know back when you were David Nolan the guy who woke from a coma? Yeah well I had done my best to try and keep her away from you..."

"Now I know why it was so hard to win her over. She had the Savior defending her honor." David says playfully.

"Hindsight my friend, hindsight... but I remember distinctly having a conversation with her weeks before about how not to get involved with you. I tried to convince her that you were already married and you needed to figure out your own life and she didn't need to be getting mixed up with a married man. She deserved better than being the other woman. You know... you were kind of a jerk." She says with a purse of her lips.

"We were cursed." David says simply raising his eyebrows for affect.

"I believe that's _her_ default..." She says pointing to Mary Margaret's bedroom. "You better think of a new excuse." Emma says with a chuckle. "Anyway... I knew she had it bad for you and she wasn't going to consider anything I said. It was beyond frustrating. Then she had the tenacity to think that I didn't know she was seeing you anyway. Please..." She scoffs, "The way you two shared goo goo eyes with each other at the diner every other day I knew. Oh yeah... I knew." She pauses for a moment before she adds with a shake of her head, "I'm terrible at this story telling bit."

"No, you're doing fine. When do we get to the part about her crying over me." He presses.

"You shouldn't be so happy with yourself there mister." Emma says with an unimpressed roll of her eyes. "So one day she asks me to meet her at Granny's. I head over there and after a little run in with August just outside the diner I walk in to find her."

"What sort of a run in?" David asks curiously, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Just a run in. What does it matter? Look... I'm telling the story here." Emma says quite defensively.

"Did you literally run in to him or do you just mean that you..." David starts to ask but is cut off.

"I walked in to the diner..." Emma says now flustered. "Mary Margaret was there waiting for me and when I sat down she started to ask me about... August..." She trails off and sighs.

"It's part of the story now. So you might as well tell me about it." David says with a smug grin on his face.

Emma glares at him. "Fine..." She mutters under her breath as she rolls her eyes.

**** This gives me something to work on for next time. So let's hope that if you stick around I can add that for you. :)****


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"You know the whole August incident is really irrelevant here... it's not like anything came of it." Emma says trying her best but failing in her attempt to dodge this part of the story.

"Come on Emma… just tell me." Egging her on as best as he can.

"You know this isn't fair. You never told me who Abigail was in Storybrooke." Emma says glaring at her father now.

"I'm not doing the story telling tonight." David says averting his gaze and letting out a fake cough. "So… you had a run in with August…" He says trying to nudge her along.

"I was just…" Emma starts shaking her head and with a grimace she continues, "I was just walking in to the diner as he was leaving. He stopped me and said something about how he had been meaning to _bump in to_ me and we just… he sort of… he kind of asked me…" she is still shaking her head clearly not wanting to tell this part of the story.

"Alright, Alright… you can stop." David finally says with a smile. "Talking boys is not something you want to be doing with your _Dad_… I get it." He says with a chuckle. "Go ahead with your story." He encourages.

She offers a smile as a blush creeps over her face. After taking a deep breath she says, "Thank you." She takes a moment to get over her discomfort but eventually gets back on track with her story. "I walked in to the diner and the first thing Mary Margaret wanted to talk about was what you were trying to get me to do. She wanted me to talk about August and it didn't get any further than what I _didn't_ just tell you. She finally told me the real reason she asked to meet me. She said that you were supposed to tell Katherine about…" Emma stops speaking abruptly. "Katherine." She says again with a tilt of her head and a smile on her face. "You were married to Princess Abigail!" She practically shouts.

Suddenly they both hear movement from the bedroom downstairs. Mary Margaret rolls over and pulls the blanket over her head. David and Emma share a knowing glance with one another.

They remain silent for some time waiting to see if the brunette is going to get out of the bed and when she does not move David leans forward to whisper, "Shall we move to the couch?" Emma nods and they both make their way to the couch on the far end of the apartment. David turns on the lamp nearby. "David Nolan was married to Kathryn. I was not married to Princess Abigail… get your facts straight here." He says in mock disapproval.

"Right." Emma says with a very mischievous smile. "So... Mary Margaret said that you were going to tell Kathryn about the two of you wanting to be together but of course that didn't play out the way anyone expected now did it?"

"No… that did not go well at all." David adds.

"I ended up going somewhere with… I mean..." Emma says then tries to backtrack.

"You went somewhere with August didn't you?" David says with a grin.

"Why would you even say that? I didn't say anything about August…"

"Just now you did. He asked you out on a date didn't he? That's what the whole run in was outside the diner wasn't it? At least I bet he was a gentleman. You didn't have to worry about him screwing you over." While his tone started off playful he suddenly got very serious. "I mean you had Neal… that idiot who can't even keep an eye on his own eleven year old son for five minutes in a diner. He let you go to prison for him…"

"Woah… now hold on there papa bear." Emma says with a chuckle. "To be fair here August was responsible for me going to prison but that's another story altogether. You totally interrupted me. Can I get back to _THIS_ story?"

"I'm sorry… I just don't trust him." David grumbles.

"Yeah I got that." Emma says smiling at him. "So yes… I did go out with August. He only took me to the wishing well where we found Henry and Regina today. I'm not sure why he took me there but he started talking about the legend of this well and how the water came from an underground lake that supposedly had magical properties… which… makes… sense…" She trails off for a moment. "Mary Margaret and I came back through that well but on the other side, in the other world, it was an old dried up lake."

"Lake Nostos." David deduces with a nod.

"It took me long enough to catch on here didn't it? It was the same freaking lake, the same water, and all the same magic." She tilts her head back and growls in realization. "No wonder Henry wanted to blow up that well. I really had no idea why he was headed there. It totally makes sense now."

"He's a smart kid…" David says with a smile.

"Very smart. He is the reason I broke the curse after all... with all that pushing and insisting he did." Emma says with a small smile. "… and maybe he would have explained all of this _"magic well" _business to me if he were talking to me, which he still isn't, which is why I am just now figuring all of this out… and I just lost track of my story again didn't I?" Emma says with a frown.

"Emma I don't think the story matters much anymore. Mary Margaret was crying over me that night because I didn't do as I promised. I didn't make good on telling Kathryn about us wanting to be together and the whole thing just went spiraling out of control. David Nolan was an idiot…" He starts to say.

"So I guess it's a good thing I broke the curse then huh? Otherwise you'd still be him." She offers but quickly tries to finish the story anyway. "When I finally made my way home that night she was in bed, much like she is now, facing away so that I wouldn't see her crying but I knew well enough that she was. I didn't really know what to say or do but I didn't want to just leave her like that either so I tried to talk to her. I asked her if she wanted to talk and she didn't. I assumed that she would want to be alone because I know I would have wanted that, but when I asked her she… well she told me she didn't want to be so I stayed with her a while. We didn't really talk I just sort of lied in bed with her and waited for her to fall asleep which eventually she did. The silence then was hard for me but the fact that she let me be there with her made it bearable. It took some time for her to start talking to me again and even then I missed her. I mean it's one thing for her to physically be there but it's another for her to be there and remain silent… like she is now."

"So the solution then is to wait?" David offers as he sets his gaze in the direction of the bedroom.

"Unless you've got a better idea… I mean we won't know how she is feeling until she's ready to tell us." She adds with a shrug as she starts to stand up from the couch. "I think... I'm gonna go get ready for bed."

"Alright." David says somewhat dejectedly.

Emma stands there and looks him over and decides to offer some sort of consolation. "Even if she won't ask for it… I'm pretty sure she'll be happy just having you with her right now."

"I know… but maybe I can't bear another silent night." He says with a shrug.

"Sure you can." She says quite optimistic and David can't help but see a flash of Snow White before him. "I may have my Mother's _thick headedness_ but I'm pretty sure my patience comes from my Father. If I can handle the silent treatment I know _HE_ can." She lets out a breathy laugh, then bends down to playfully smack him on the shoulder with the back of her hand simply because she isn't the type to initiate a hug.

He knows this is Emma "trying". He shakes his head smiling all the while and reaches out to grasp her hand to squeeze it gently. "Goodnight Emma."

"Goodnight." She says smiling at him once more before making her way across the apartment. She takes a moment to look in to the bedroom where Mary Margaret lay sleeping before she heads up the stairs.

David heads to the kitchen table to retrieve the forgotten coffee mugs and rinse them out in the sink. He stands there for a moment trying to find the courage to walk back in to a silent bedroom for the second night in a row. He finally drags himself over to change into something to sleep in and crawls in to the bed.

He doesn't try to get close to his wife. He does not try to wake her. He simply lies in the bed next to her and stares at the ceiling hoping sleep will take over, but then he feels her move. She does not say anything, she only moves closer so that her arm is pressed up against his under the covers. He smiles to himself and then when her hand slips in to his he squeezes it to let her know he's there for her, and so the silence just became a bit more bearable.

**** I will do my best to update this story because I know this was not as good a chapter as the others were. :(****


	6. Chapter 6

**** I'm sorry but you might have to use your imagination to get to this point. I didn't want to rewrite an episode. :) This is right after 2X18 Selfless Brave and True and we finally get some interaction from Henry and Mary Margaret. It's been boring (for me) without them.****

**Chapter 6**

Selfless, brave, and true. Those were the things that helped to transform August from a deceased wooden man to a young boy named Pinocchio once more. What's more, her own son new this was the answer to their problem and that left Emma completely blown away.

It was early still and everyone had just got in to the apartment for the evening. There were plans for a family dinner so there was some free time to clarify things with young Henry who had lead her upstairs to their shared bedroom.

"Henry? Look, I know I have a lot of work to do to get you to trust me again. I know you said you won't push me away but I know I have to work at it too. I don't expect you to just forgive me overnight and I'm okay with that but I just need you to know that I really am... very sorry that I lied."

"It's okay. You don't have to keep explaining it to me. I know... I get it." Henry says with a smile as he sits on the bed to look up at her. "I just want everyone to stop treating me like a kid."

"Henry..." She starts to say but he interrupts.

"No! I know that you think I'm too young to understand but remember who brought you to town? I'm the one who did that. I'm the one who believed in the curse when no one else did. You can't keep treating me like that. If I can help I want to help. Your parents are Snow White and Prince Charming, they're heroes in all of the stories I read in our book, you're the savior, and I want to be a hero too. It's in my blood. It's who we all are so you can't _NOT_ tell me things just because you think I won't understand. I can handle it and if I can't... well you have to let _me_ decide. Okay?"

Emma had been standing in the same spot of the bedroom, mouth agape, her hands on her hips. She had not uttered a word since Henry started speaking. She was in a stunned state, completely taken aback at how self assured the boy was at this very moment. She finally snaps out of it and grins at him, a slight glimmer in her eye before she whispers, "Selfless, brave, and true... it's no wonder you knew the answer to that Henry. That's all you."

He smiles up at her as she makes her way over to kneel on the floor before him. She takes his smaller hands in to hers and rests them on his knees. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we treat you like you're a kid but technically you still are. We just want you to be safe. We have to come to some sort of an agreement here Henry. You can't just ask me to tell you everything and then go ahead with some crazy plan without telling anyone. You can't keep putting yourself in harm's way. If you want me to treat you like more than just a little kid you can't turn around and be reckless." She had done her best to remain calm but in true maternal form she cannot help but utter her next statement with anguish and fervor. "That stunt you pulled the other day at the well... you had us worried sick Henry. We're just now learning how to be a family. I'm still trying to wrap my head around being a Mom and Neal is just getting to know you. You can't do that to us again. You can't treat us how you did Regina and I know... I know she lied to you all the time and I told you a really big lie but you can't just... you can't..." She's gasping now trying hard to hold in her tears.

Henry can see the pain written in her face. He leaps down on to the floor with her and wraps his arms around her neck. "I'm sorry." He whispers burying his face in her hair.

At this she finally breaks down and holds on to him for dear life. She partly laughs and partly cries through her mutterings of, "I love you Henry... I can't lose you now okay?"

"I know." He says pulling back to look in to her now teary eyes. "I love you too and I'm sorry."

She stares in to those eyes until she takes a moment to be upset with herself. "Aw... God... look at me. I'm a mess." She says laughing while wiping her face with the back of her hand.

Henry cannot help but chuckle at her embarrassment. "That's okay. I won't tell anyone you're a cry baby."

"Thanks." She says reaching out a hand to ruffle his hair. "Why don't you go downstairs and get washed up for dinner. I'm gonna need a minute to get over... all of this." She says gesturing at her face with one hand. Henry nods in consent and makes his way downstairs.

When she finally makes her way down she finds David alone in the kitchen. She comes up in front of the kitchen counter to sit on a stool, "So... what's for dinner?"

"I'm thinking spaghetti. It's fast. It's easy. It's getting late..." he says with a smile.

"You forgot about it being ever so typical of a family dinner." Emma offers sarcastically with a dramatic shake of her head which earns a chuckle from David. "Can I help with anything?"

"Want to cut up some of those tomatoes for me? I have to get the pasta started."

"Alright." She says hopping off the bar stool making her way around to assist him.

"So... interesting day huh?" He says making small talk.

"Indeed it was..." Emma says thoughtfully. "I uh... didn't get a chance to apologize to you about this morning. You know... when I blew up on you about the whole breakfast in bed for Mary Margaret thing?"

"It's alright. You were right anyway and she made it out of bed on her own today so..." David starts to recount the events of the morning.

"Still though I'm sorry." She says with a shrug. "I acted like a..."

"Kid?" David says with a smile as he nudges her with his elbow. "It's alright Emma. I know we're not always going to see eye to eye on things."

"Yeah, with me being thick headed like my Mother and all..." She says with a chuckle nudging him back.

"Excuse me?" They both look up to find Mary Margaret standing in front of them, eyebrows raised in surprise. "What was that?" She asks in a meek voice while eyeing Emma.

"Um..." Emma with wide eyes is at a loss but is quickly saved by Prince Charming himself.

"You hungry? Emma is helping me out here with dinner. Should be ready soon." He says with an animated smile on his face.

"Oh nice try Charming... what's all this _thick headedness_ and your Mother business?" She asks eyeing her husband now.

Henry makes his way to sit on a bar stool and laughs having heard the sternness in his grandmother's voice while taking in both Emma and David's concerned looks.

"Nothing Hon... she's just... we were just..." David scrambles to offer up an excuse.

"Look, there are just some things you have to come to terms with." Emma offers instead.

"Really?" Mary Margaret replies with an un-amused tone. "Do enlighten me."

"While you and Henry have been giving us the silent treatment the past few evenings the two of us needed something to do to keep ourselves sane. He shared a few stories here and there to get me to see that I am a lot like my Mother."

"What sort of stories?" The woman asks trying to appear offended although the smirk on her lips tells another story.

"Just... stories..." Emma says simply with a shrug.

"Look... we're really busy with dinner here. Maybe you and Henry should go relax over there on the couch." David offers with a sly wink and a grin.

Mary Margaret furrows her brow and as she and Henry walk away she does not fail to glare at the two of them. "Maybe we'll tell a few stories of our own while we wait... how about it Henry?"

"Why does everyone in this family have to act like a child?" Emma scoffs while David chuckles.

"Says the girl who dated a lost boy." He adds in jest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma says, pausing a moment to give him a glare, using the kitchen knife to point at him.

"Come on..." He says with a tilt of his head. "Henry told me all about how Neal met Hook in Neverland before coming to this world."

"What the... what? Wait a minute... I never bothered to ask this but..." Emma says rather loudly then she turns about to search out her son. "He's not Peter Pan is he?" She asks the boy with a pained grimace.

"Mom..." Henry says almost in a whine. "Just finish making dinner and stop making crazy guesses. We're starving already."

"I love how you all get to just change the subject on me like that. I never get to avoid subjects..." Emma starts to argue.

"Actually, you did that to me all the time before you broke the curse." Mary Margaret offers from the couch.

"I did not." Emma says defensively.

"You did... and that is definitely something you get from your father." She adds as a satisfied smile spreads over her face.

"So what questions did you get to avoid answering with Mary Margaret?" David asks looking over at his daughter. Emma sighs and simply gives him a look that begs him to drop this subject.

"Oh David... leave her alone." Mary Margaret says making her way back toward them. "There are just some things a girl doesn't discuss with her Father." She says this with a shrug.

"Yeah... like what... one night stands?" He asks his wife now with a knowing glare.

"We were cursed." She says pointing a finger at him.

"I told you..." Emma whispers to David with a smile, remembering their conversation from the previous night and how he tried to use that phrase as an excuse.

"I'm getting pretty tired of these "inside" comments you two are making." Mary Margaret says with a shake of her head as she makes her way in to the kitchen to take out some plates and silverware.

Father and Daughter share identical grins and laugh at their own current behavior as everyone settles in to have some dinner.

****I don't think this is the end but I haven't thought of how to do so but there are still ways to keep this going... I just don't have anything yet. Perhaps I can pick up the next episode. That seems to be working out pretty well... **

**Thanks a lot for the feedback. I appreciate that. :)****


	7. Chapter 7

****Why hello there story followers. I'm sorry I took so long (at least longer than normal) to update for you. Reality got in the way for a while but I am offering up a two chapter update to make up for it. At least I hope it does... I guess you'll let me know. :)****

**Chapter 7**

After dinner David and Emma were left behind in the kitchen to do the dishes while Henry and Mary Margaret readied themselves for bed.

"Wow... not only did we have to make dinner but we have to clean up too? How is that even fair?" Emma asks in disbelief though she is smiling all the while.

"Life's just not fair." David offers with a grin and a shrug. "Speaking of _not fair_... you really got away with not sharing things with Mary Margaret? I mean back before the curse?"

"Yeah." Emma replies wearily. "You're not gonna start an interrogation on me now are you?"

"No no..." He offers with an exaggerated frown. "I was just... I mean I'm a little curious that's all." He shakes his head as he keeps his eyes fixed on the dish in his hand.

"Curious… about… what exactly?" Emma says taking the dish from him to dry it off.

"There is so much about you that your mother and I still don't know. I don't expect you to spill all your secrets I just..." He sighs trying to think of what he is trying to get at. "I'd like to know a few things here and there. I mean you told me a story about your time here with Mary Margaret... your time in Storybrooke, but not about anything before that." He finally looks over at her and she's staring at him with a sort of panic stricken expression. "Emma I... it's alright. I mean..."

"No..." She hurries to console him laughing nervously. "I didn't mean to look at you like that." She shakes her head smiling. "It's just that... no matter how many times I tell myself I'm still not used to the fact that you're my Dad."

"Oh." He says smiling thoughtfully now.

"So... that was me getting hit with the five second realization... not panicking because you're curious although there's plenty for me to panic over if you pick a topic for me so... give me a second." She says as she takes another dish from him to dry it off.

As David drains the sink and dries off his hands he nudges her with his elbow, "Coffee?"

"Yeah." She says with a nod as she heads over to the kitchen counter to sit in the bar stool and watch him. "I guess I can…" She trails off trying to figure out which story she'd like to share with him this evening. "I guess I can tell you about how I actually met Neil if that's something you'd like to know."

"I think that's something we would all like to hear about." Mary Margaret says as she comes into view fresh from the shower and walks over to stand at the counter next to Emma. "Unless of course this is a private party." She adds with brows raised in anticipation of Emma's rejection.

"No… it's… it's fine. I guess we might as well call Henry down while we're at it." Emma says pointing a finger in the air. "Let me go…" She starts to say as she stands from the stool.

"No I'll get him." She says putting a hand on Emma's shoulder. "You stay. I'll be right back."

David and Emma watch the woman walk away before meeting eyes and smiling awkwardly at each other. "This is different huh? You sure you're up for it? I didn't mean for you to get so personal especially not with us all at once."

"No it's good. I'm good. I… I've been meaning to tell this story to Henry anyhow and… I mean it'll be fine." She says shrugging it off like it was no big deal but she could almost hear her heart beating in her ears at the thought of all of this.

"Okay. I guess I'll have to get two cups of cocoa ready while I'm at it then huh?" He says with a low chuckle while Emma only smiles as a response.

Henry hops down the stairs and rushes over to Emma. "So what's up? What are we all doing?"

"Well now that you and Mary Margaret here are back in the land of the living, so to speak, I guess... well… I'm going to tell you a story." She says taking a deep breath before she shuts her eyes. _Maybe this is a bad idea._ She thinks.

"Here... let's all move to the table. I have some hot chocolate and coffee coming to you here in a minute." David says ushering everyone over to the table.

Mary Margaret and Henry sit at one side of the table while Emma sits on the other and waits for David to come over with a couple of mugs. Mary Margaret watches Emma fidget in her seat, "Emma?"

"Uh... yeah... no... A story… I know." She says stuttering. "I... just give me a second." Emma says looking around the room. "I'm... going to tell you about how I met Neil. I mean it's not anything amazing. At least it's nothing like the story of how you and David met." She says pressing her hand down against the kitchen table offering her something else to look at rather than meet eyes with anyone.

David comes back with a coffee for Emma and sets it down on the table for her while smiling and trying to hold back his laughter. He could tell she was anxious. "Emma... it's alright."

Emma sighs, "You just gotta understand that this is... well... it's all very personal. I mean... I mean I know we're all family and this should be normal. We're supposed to share things and have... have some history..." She says raising her eyebrows for emphasis, "... but it's still a little weird." She laughs at herself. "I feel like if I jump in to this story you're going to start asking all sorts of questions about... well about what happened before and if that happens we'll be here all night so I guess I have to set some ground rules. Well okay... maybe just one rule." She puts a finger in the air, "No questions that make us go back further in time. You'll know what you need to know and that's it. Does everyone understand?" She asks quite sternly while pointing to everyone seated around her.

"We understand." Mary Margaret replies with a slight chuckle. "Is this how you two have been acting together the past few evenings?" She says looking to David.

"No... she was nothing like this. You have to take in to account that her audience has grown." He says with a smile. "Although she did get a bit testy I never tried to push her..." He tries to hide a grin.

"Testy? I was testy!? You were asking way too many questions. He interrupted me I don't know how many times and yeah right you didn't try to push me. You wouldn't let up on the whole August incident." Emma says now completely absorbed in her argument.

"Mom... are you gonna tell us this story or not?" Henry asks a bit un-amused.

"Right the story... Okay so the ground rule is no questions to take us back. Once I start we just keep going. Now here we go..." She says and then takes a breath before she starts. "When I left the system... okay more like when I _"escaped" _the system..." Emma offers making air quotes. "I found myself in Portland Oregon. Let's just say I did a lot of traveling in my youth. That just sounds more exciting." She says laughing at herself.

"You are not making this _no questions_ rule any easier by offering up teasers like that Emma." Mary Margaret says with a tilt of her head and something akin to a warning in her eyes.

"Right... so there I was in the middle of Portland Oregon and I was looking to find myself a means of transportation. I sort of..." Emma sighs a bit in exasperation. "I sort of found a car in the middle of an alley. It looked pretty beat up... you could see spots of grey primer peeking through the yellow. It looked somewhat abandoned. I sort of... might have... popped the lock and maybe turned it on with a screwdriver." Emma says with a grimace sitting up to take a sip of her now forgotten cup of coffee. She chances a glance at Mary Margaret and Henry who were both gaping at her from across the table. She watches as Mary Margaret tilts her head in thought but says nothing.

"So you stole a car?" Henry asks as he finally registers what sort of situation his mother had just described.

"Technically it was already stolen but I'm getting ahead of myself." Emma says holding a hand in the air to make that point. "I had just pulled the car in to drive when all of a sudden I hear someone say, _Impressive, but you could have just asked me for the keys. _I was beyond freaked out. I can't even remember if I screamed but I know he scared the crap out of me when he popped up from behind me." Emma says laughing at the memory of it. "Anyhow, he sort of just let me keep driving and introduced himself as Neil Cassidy. I was trying to figure out how to get myself out of trouble at this point so I didn't want to tell him who I was but then he threatened me by saying that he didn't need to know my name with the robbery currently in progress." Emma now rolls her eyes at how ridiculous this story is starting to sound.

"You stole a man's car with the man still inside it?" David asks with a laugh.

"Oh trust me it gets better..." Emma says smiling widely now. She takes a moment to look over Henry and Mary Margaret's faces but when they do nothing but smile at her she knows this story is just fine with them. "He asks me out for a drink in the midst of my failed car-jacking and I kind of refused at first because I didn't even know this guy. He was sleeping in the back of a car in an alley... he could have been a weirdo for all I knew... well okay I actually said he might be a pervert but that's beside the point. In the confusion of him trying to get information out of me I run a stop sign and a cop pulls us over. Before the cop makes it over to the car he reminds me that I still had the screwdriver in the ignition and when I take it out he puts the keys in. I have no idea how it worked out but he convinces the cop not to give us a ticket and that's when he says... _We got lucky._"

"We?" Mary Margaret asks curiously.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Yeah... _We got lucky_. He had to sweet talk his way through that whole cop situation because he had in fact stolen this car. I stole a stolen car." Emma says smiling brightly now.

"Oh... wonderful." David offers sarcastically. This does nothing to help the fact that he completely dislikes the man.

"When we finally drive away we end up having that drink he offered me. I spent a lot of time with him after that. A lot of time..." Emma says putting a hand to her forehead to hide her eyes. She knows she's blushing and the fact that she's sharing this with her parents doesn't alleviate the awkwardness or this blush. "I was fresh out of the system so I didn't have much to look forward to but Neil and I... we spent the better half of a year or so running around like a couple of kids. We were a pair. We... we were both orphans. We both struggled to get by day to day and we had a lot of fun doing it too. I mean... I know... I probably shouldn't have just said any of that to you all but I just want you to know..." She says this looking at Henry now. "He wasn't always a bad guy to me. I don't want you to ever think I hated him... he just hurt me badly in the end."

"I remember… you told me that he broke your heart." Henry offers quietly. "So then my Dad was a thief?"

"Yeah." Emma says quietly with a sad smile.

"You're mom was a thief." Henry adds with a smile and then looks over at Mary Margaret.

"We are not talking about me right now Henry." Mary Margaret says averting her eyes.

"Yeah David already told me that story anyhow." Emma says with a grin now. "He said..." She puts her hands together to place them over her heart and with a dramatic display says, "She stole my jewels, my money, and... she stole my heart." Henry nearly barrels over with laughter and Emma soon chuckles along as well.

"You said that?" Mary Margaret asks looking to David with a smile so wide it reached her eyes, a blush slowly creeping over her face.

"Yes. Yes I did and do you know what?" He asks quite defensively. "I meant it. Thieves steal. You stole my heart and apparently Emma stole a car with the future father of her child." He affirms with a nod.

"Oh... Hey now..." Emma offers trying to defend herself.

"You started it. There was nothing wrong with my story telling." He says shaking his head at her.

"You mean other than the fact that you have to romanticize everything you say?" Emma playfully scolds.

"I'd rather be a romantic than a cynic. You still don't see how my point keeps getting validated here do you? You really are just like your mother." David affirms loudly.

"Why was that even a point you wanted to make to her?" Mary Margaret asks a bit bothered by this as she sits up straighter in her chair.

"Now that the story is over and everyone is acting... _crazy_..." Henry cuts in to say while shaking his head, mostly confused by the current behavior of all the adults in the room. "I think I'm going to bed." He says standing to push his chair in.

"Alright sweetie." Mary Margaret says rubbing his shoulder as he starts to walk away. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Grams. Goodnight Gramps. Goodnight Mom." He says making his way up the stairs too tired to wait around for their replies.

"Wow... he's putting himself to bed? Do you see what you did? You hijacked my story… again!" Emma says smacking David's shoulder with the back of her hand. "You have me running off my son."

"So the point of these stories you were telling Emma..." Mary Margaret begins to ask David. "You want her to know that she's… like me?"

"She... well... you know... she's..." David stutters feeling like he's about to get in to a lot of trouble.

"Stubborn and thick headed like her Mother?" Mary Margaret offers while narrowing her eyes at him.

"No... That's not what I said." David tries to defend. "She's... she's just passionate and resourceful... she's... oh she's beautiful... and amazing..."

"Ha... nice try." Emma says with a laugh. "You are in deep buddy." She shakes her head still laughing at him.

"I just wanted her to see how our stories are so similar. You didn't believe in Love at first sight or True love's kiss when I met you and now look at us. We're married! We had a daughter who is the very essence of True Love, the savior, who broke a curse."

"... and then we are oh so very different." Emma interrupts to offer. "I got left in prison by my... _whatever_." She chooses not to finish that statement. "I had a baby... in prison. I gave him up and went on with my life trying to find people for a living. Oh... great..." Emma groans while throwing her hands in the air. "... because in this family we always..."

"Find each other." David finishes pointing at her as if to say gotcha. "Exactly!"

"Oh... I'm seriously making myself sick. This is getting way too sentimental for me." Emma says as she stands from the kitchen table to take her mug to the sink leaving Mary Margaret and David to share a laugh at her expense.

"Why are you like that?" Mary Margaret asks tenderly. "There's nothing wrong with being sentimental."

"No... I guess there isn't but that's just not me." Emma says walking back to the table to sit back down.

"Really? Not you?" Mary Margaret asks thoughtfully. "Let me ask you this... what sort of car was it that you stole Emma? You said it was Yellow…" The woman smiles knowingly.

"It was the bug alright? It was my yellow bug that's parked outside. I kept it... so what?" Emma says shrugging.

"You could have stolen another car. You could have bought a new one with the money you made as a bounty hunter, but you kept that car just like you kept your baby blanket and you kept that..." Mary Margaret looks to Emma's neckline. "What happened to that swan charm you always wore?"

Emma just purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest. "It's gone... stop trying to make me out to be some sentimental sissy. Sure I could have gotten a new car but I already had one. Why waste money and effort to get something else? You both really get on my nerves when you do this to me."

"Ah... we get on her nerves!" David says now with a laugh. "We're working our way up on the obligatory must haves for being parents."

Emma just rolls her eyes. "Children... I'm surrounded by children." She says throwing her arms up in an exasperated gesture. "If you'll excuse me I have an actual child to go check in on."

Mary Margate laughs but calls Emma back. "Wait a second... could you come back here for a moment?"

Emma walks back over to her and asks in a huff. "What?"

"I'm glad you've been able to spend some time talking to your father and thank you... for sharing a story with all of us. You're right. This should be normal... we should all be able to share things with each other and maybe we'll eventually get that right." She offers with a warm smile and a curt nod as she reaches out and grabs at Emma's wrist to squeeze it gently. "Goodnight Emma." She says with a smile now.

"Goodnight." She smiles shyly now and looks over at David. "Goodnight."

David only nods at her and they both watch as she walks away and up the stairs. There's a good full minute of silence between husband and wife before Mary Margaret turns in her chair to face David, "I don't know if I should be impressed or jealous of you right now."

David laughs before asking, "Why is that?"

"I've been looking forward to just bonding with her since the curse broke and here you are chatting away with her… sharing secrets."

"You know that friendships are forged in the most unlikely of situations. She was tired of the silent treatment from Henry… I was having a rough time dealing with it from you. We really missed you by the way. Did I mention that?"

"I know… I missed you too. I'm sorry." She says shaking her head and lowering her gaze to the table.

"I'm just glad you're back. I know it's going to take time for you to be your old self but… please… don't ever do that to us again okay? I mean sure it was nice that Emma and I were able to lean on each other but she's not my rock… you are." He says before reaching out to take her hand.

She smiles at him. Another beat of silence before she narrows her eyes and lowers her voice, "You have better start explaining what you said to her. I don't appreciate all this thick headed stubbornness you both have been labeling me with."

David grins at her. "Yes dear. I'll tell you all about that… uh… right after… I shower."

"Oh alright…" She warns him and adds with a bit of sass. "Just don't think I will let you change to subject on me the way I am sure you did with Emma. I'm the one who married you remember? This whole story evasion thing is not going to work on me…" She says grinning now. "So you take that shower and I'll be waiting."

****No… I don't think I'm quite done here. So until next time… Thank you very much for your kind words in the form of your reviews and thanks for reading. :)****


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Morning came and there was a knock on the apartment door. David, who was already up and ready for a new day went over to pull the door open only to find Neil standing there. "Neil?"

"Uh… Morning, I uh… I came to pick up Henry." Neil says, nervously scratching at his chin. "Is he… is he up?"

David can't help but frown as he takes a few steps back to let the man in to the apartment. Emma happens to come down the stairs just in time to prevent any sort of a conversation between the two. "Hey." She says to Neil while giving David a cautionary glare. He takes the hint and makes his way to the stand in the kitchen.

"Hey, is Henry awake?" Neil asks Emma as she comes to meet him where he still stands in the open doorway.

"Yeah... he was just getting dressed. He'll be down in a minute. I… knew you said you wanted to spend the day with him but isn't this a bit early for you?" She asks with a tilt of her head and a quirk of her lips.

Neil laughs at this comment. "You're funny but no… I'm not a twenty something year old living the high life anymore. Adults wake up early. I don't waste daylight anymore."

David chuckles to himself but it does not go unnoticed by Neil and Emma who both look over at him as he stands next to the kitchen sink holding his cup of coffee. The way that Emma tilts her head back and glares causes him to turn his back to them in an attempt to give them some sort of privacy though he can still clearly hear every word they might say.

Emma smiles at David's behavior but turns back around to carry on with the conversation. "So you're an adult now? That's impressive. I mean for a man who's been to Neverland."

Again Neil laughs at her comment. "Yeah well… you can't be young forever. Someone has to take responsibility right? Plus I'm a Dad now." He says with a shrug, his smile bright as he continues. "I missed out on… like what… Eleven years? I think I got a lot of catching up to do."

David was not expecting the man to say anything that would make sense or that might ring true to him but in that moment he realized he had something in common with Neil. While he might have another couple of years in separation over him he could relate to wanting to get to know his own child, his daughter Emma.

Henry comes down not a moment later. "Hey!"

"Hey Buddy." Neil says as Henry rushes up to him and hugs him in greeting. "You ready to head out?"

"What are we gonna do today?" Henry asks curiously.

"Well I don't know about you but I'm starving so I figured we might head to Granny's, have some breakfast, and figure out what we might do. How does that sound?" Neil asks putting his arm around the boy's shoulder.

The boy smiles at this and goes over to grab his coat from the hook. He looks at Emma. "I'll see you later. Bye Gramps!" He yells at David before he walks out with Neil.

Emma stares at the door for a minute before turning around to meet eyes with her father. They smile at each other. "That… was weird." Emma offers.

"Weird how?" David asks still smiling.

"You know what I'm talking about. The father of my son… he was standing right here. My dad was in the kitchen staring him down… probably thinking of ways to… Oh I don't know… hurt him."

"Give me a little credit here. I was not thinking any such thing." David says playfully.

"Well what was that chuckle I heard from you then? You had to have been thinking something." She says shaking her head as she walks over to lean on the kitchen counter.

"Just hearing a former lost boy talk about being an adult... It's a bit ironic isn't it?"

"Oh please… enough with the Neverland nonsense." She says rolling her eyes.

"You used the Neverland reference on him just then." David points out.

"That was a private conversation. My God… I have no privacy in this place." She says but does not sound as annoyed as she's trying to sound.

"Bickering this early in the morning?" Mary Margaret asks as she walks up to David and kisses his cheek before opening the fridge to take out some juice.

"Bickering? Were we bickering Emma?" David asks.

Emma just laughs and shakes her head. She heads over to pick up her coat and slip it on. "I think I'm gonna head out for a while."

"You're not going to go spy on them are you?" David asks.

"What? No… I don't need to spy on Henry if he wants to spend time with his father. I just… have some things I want to… figure out… on my… own… you know what? I don't know why I'm standing here trying to offer up excuses. I don't need anyone's permission to just get out of the apartment. When did this start happening?" The tone in her voice was a bit unexpected as it left Mary Margaret and David to share a concerned look with one another.

As Emma is about to step out of the apartment she turns around to look at her parents. They are obviously not sure what her last comment was all about and she's not about to get in to it now but before she can even attempt to leave Mary Margaret calls to her. "Emma wait…" So Emma stops walking and turns about. Her face expresses nothing but annoyance but she waits for the woman to offer some sort of explanation for stopping her.

Mary Margaret then looks over at David and as they often do they share a conversation through only the use of their eyes. "Why don't you take a drive with David and me? There's something we would like to show you."

Emma grimaces, clearly skeptical as to whether their intentions are good or menacing, but she stays put for the moment. "Alright," She says with a grumble.

The three pile in to David's truck and remain silent for the first half of the ride. Mary Margaret would look over at David and they'd sort of shrug and throw fleeting glances at their daughter. It was the brunette who finally decided to break the silence. "I promise we really do have something to show you Emma."

Emma does not respond she simply turns her attention to look out the window as David drives them out of town to a lonely rode on the outskirts. When they arrive at their destination Emma is thoroughly confused. It appears she has been dragged out to an empty lot. If this was some sort of parental intervention for her slight attitude in the apartment she is not the least bit happy about it. She has things she could be working on... like figuring out who August was trying to warn everyone about.

She was simply unprepared to handle the revelation that her parents had been secretly harvesting magic beans. They were working on a way back to the land they all come from, the land where Emma herself was born. Of course it made sense that they would want to go back but Emma was sure that this world was her home. Could she willingly leave it behind?

After seeing that land first hand, the state of ruin that the castle was in, not to mention her run in with ogres and the undead she was quite reluctant to accept this as an option in her life. She would need time to figure out what she wanted for both herself and Henry. She needed time to think about things and on her own terms maybe she could come up with some sort of an answer in the unspoken question her parents presented to her.

That was what they intended after all... to show her their work on the magic beans so that they could go back to their land, a chance to be together as a family, but in a world Emma still new very little about.

Here she is now at the edge of town, sitting on a bench, reading Henry's story book. It was the first thing she saw when she got back to the apartment from seeing that magic bean field. She managed to read through the beginnings of it. She scanned over the pages of the story her father had shared a few nights ago, of how he met and fell in love with her mother Snow White. She had just got to the story of how the nursery had been decorated by the dwarves. When she turned the page she saw the picture of her parents standing in the window. She stopped reading to stare at it a while. She had stood in that window herself.

Was that really something she wanted? In all honesty she did have time. She had plenty of time to think these things out. She had spent a very long time searching for her parents. She found them and now she had Henry in her life as well. If it was a matter of just being together she'd say yes no questions asked but the fact remained, she knew more about this world than the one she was born in. She didn't know if she could leave it all behind just yet.

Eventually she makes her way back to the apartment. Her parents were still out at the bean field. She'd taken some more time to look through the story book. While the words were lovely to read it was the images that struck her. Some made her smile. Some made her feel angry, like certain images of Rumplestiltskin and Regina. Then some of the images made her feel things that she didn't quite understand like this image of a young Baelfire.

It was the story of a young boy who she met in this world. Emma realized now that even after all that time they had spent together she really knew little about him. He had kept this part hidden away. He was living his life trying to forget his past which was the complete opposite of Emma who was trying to learn more about hers.

There is a knock on the door now. She makes her way over to answer. Neil is standing there with Henry thrown over his shoulder, clearly worn out from a day of bonding with his father. They settle the boy on the couch and head over to talk a while at the kitchen table. They come on to the subject of who might be putting Storybrooke at risk. Who was this person August had tried to warn them about? Emma needed to get to the bottom of this.

"If there's one thing I know about you it's that you don't stop until you find what you're looking for." Neil says to her.

While it was thoughtful of him to say there was something inside of her wishing he weren't so... _So what? Charming? That's actually how he won me over isn't it? Oh Great... I'm just as pathetic as my Father._ "Uh." She accidentally grunts in response to her own thought.

"Everything alright Emma?" Neil asks with a grin on account of her sudden grunt.

"I'm fine. I was just... thinking about... something." She says shaking her head and putting her hand on her face. "Anyway..."

"Speaking of finding things though. You found your parents? That's something." Neil points out.

"Yeah." She shrugs. "Actually... it was Henry. He found me and brought me here."

"To break the curse." He says in a breathy laugh. "Still though... I'm right. You found them. You never stopped looking."

"Which is more than I can say for you." She says in a grumble.

"Emma..." Neil tries to defend himself. "It wasn't... I mean I couldn't..."

"No. It's fine. It's... you know that's all in the past. I wouldn't have come here if none of that had happened. It's like you said it was fate right... or the fact that you betrayed me and let me go to jail for you but... _whatever_." She says a bit ferociously but shrugs it off.

"Aw come on Emma. That's not how it went down and you know it." Neil says raising his voice.

"It doesn't matter. I already told you I'm over you_... IT!_ I'm over IT." She rushes to correct herself being sure to emphasis that one word over the other.

"What are you guys yelling about?" Henry asks groggily as he sits up on the couch, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Nothing. We're not... yelling." Emma offers. "Why don't you go get ready for bed Henry?"

"Are you staying here tonight?" Henry asks as he comes to stand next to Neil.

"What? Oh... no... I actually need to be going. We had fun today though huh?" Neil asks the boy.

"Yeah." Henry says with a sleepy smile.

"I'll see you later buddy. Goodnight." Neil says as he stands from his chair. Henry is quick to wrap his arms around him for a hug goodbye.

"Goodnight." The boy says as he makes his way up the stairs.

Emma remains seated at the table, staring at it, trying to will this anger away for the moment. "Emma... are we... are we good here?" He asks while squinting at her trying to gauge her mood.

She looks up at him and offers one of her best fake smiles, "Yeah. We're good. Goodnight." She says.

Neil sighs but decides to just let it go for now. He sees himself out, silently passing up Mary Margaret and David in the hallway.


	10. Chapter 10

****Thank you for the reads, reviews, and follows. :)****

****Hey snoopykid! Thanks for your review. ;)****

**Chapter 10**

The apartment door opens and Emma can't contain her anger, "I said we're good. Just leave it alone already!" She shouts thinking it is Neil who has come back then gasping in realization that it is only her parents. "Oh."

"Yeah, seems to me everything's just peachy in here." David offers. Emma merely averts her gaze and purses her lips trying to avoid any sort of conversation for the moment.

David takes in her defeated slouch in the chair and throws a quick glance at Mary Margaret. His wife only smiles and makes her way to the bedroom. "Emma?"

"Nope... don't want to talk about it." She says quickly but continues to stare at the kitchen table.

David only grins at her. "Okay."

The playful tone in his voice only causes her to look up and glare at him. "I'm serious." She says fiercely.

"No, I know you are." David assures her with a nod but cannot stop smiling.

"Oh don't start... you are not about to tell me that I am acting like my mother again are you?" She asks and is trying her best not to lower her defenses and allow him to cheer her up.

"You said it not me." He says smiling.

Emma scoffs. "What are you trying to read in to now? I didn't say or do anything this time." She sighs loudly in annoyance. "Just go ahead and tell me already." She's saying crossing her arms over her chest.

"Emma, I know you want to hate him. You want to be mad now. I know you want to tell yourself that you could care less about who he is with or what he is doing but deep down you still care. Mary Margaret Blanchard tried desperately to fend off David Nolan. The harder she tried the harder it got to avoid him."

"Those were not my parents. You can't use Storybrooke aliases and say that I am like my mother. It doesn't work that way. That's like saying that I fell in love with the son of Rumplestiltskin a decade ago. That's not true."

"Technically it is." David offers but is doing little to hide how proud he is of pointing this out.

"No… he was _NOT_ the son of Rumplestiltskin back then. He was just... a _man_." Emma says earnestly.

"A man that you fell in love with." David offers this with a nod, his smile growing brighter as he meets her eyes.

"Shut up." Emma says smiling at him now. "Have I told you lately that you annoy me?"

"No not today but I can't say I didn't see that one coming." He laughs but then their attention is taken by Mary Margaret who approaches them at the table.

"Emma… Henry just asked me to find out what you and Neil were arguing about. I told him he should ask you himself but he seems to think he can get a story out of it." Mary Margaret says smiling kindly.

Emma winces. "Seriously? With the bedtime stories?"

"You've been doing the same thing with your Father haven't you? He'd just like to hear things from you, hear your side of the story, that's all." The woman offers as an excuse.

"Are you sure you didn't give him the idea?" Emma asks narrowing her eyes at the woman. "I mean I can't help but notice that he seems to have your deductive reasoning skills along with your optimism. He definitely doesn't get any of that from me." She says as she gets up from her seat to tuck it under the table.

"Your daughter is in quite a mood." Mary Margaret says as she sits down next to David at the table.

"I hate to break it to you but that attitude is all you my dear." He starts to say while nudging her.

"I can hear you guys... You know that right? I'm standing... _right here_." Emma says to them from where she stands at the bottom of the stairs.

"Goodnight Emma." David happily says to her.

"Yeah... right..." She narrows her eyes at them once more. "Goodnight." She makes her way up the stairs.

"What sort of story do you think she's going to tell him?" David asks his wife when Emma is clearly out of earshot.

"It seems they were discussing the fact that she went to jail because of Neil. So I would assume he's going to ask more about that or possibly how..." She does not finish her statement as she takes in David's amused expression. "What?"

"I think I see what she was talking about." David says now.

"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret asks quite confused.

"Those deductive reasoning skills paired with keen ears for eavesdropping... Henry is a lot like you as well."

"When do we start getting to how much these kids are like you?" She asks in a snippy voice.

The man only laughs. "So do you want to put those deductive reasoning skills to work or do you just want to use your eavesdropping skills for the night and listen in on the story?" David offers.

"You know if we sit in the spot just under the stairway we can probably hear the whole thing." She offers. "Not... that I've... tried that... before." She quickly adds.

"No... of course you haven't." He says grinning at her.

Meanwhile up in the bedroom Emma is trying to make her point. "Henry, some things are just not meant to be shared between parent and child."

"Do you remember when I told you that you have to let me decide what I can't handle?" Henry asks laying in bed propped up on his elbows with a grin on his face.

"Do I have to keep reminding you that you are still my son? I think I have a say in what I do or do not tell you. This is my story Henry... not some fairytale in your book." She points out as she starts to pace in her frustration.

"The book that you've been reading all day?" Henry says tilting his head.

"How do _YOU_ know what I was doing today?" She asks narrowing her eyes at him.

"Doesn't matter... I'm right." He says with a nod. "You know... It's not fair that you can just read your family history in a book. Your story is not in that book so I need to hear it from you... the truth this time. No lies." He says quite definitively.

"Fine..." She says in a grumble. "What do you want to know?"

"You said that you went to jail for him. What did you mean?" Henry asks.

"You sure don't sleep as soundly as I thought." Emma says narrowing her eyes at him while he simply shrugs. "So you want to know what it was that put me in jail?"

"Yes." Henry says with a nod.

She sinks down to sit on the edge of the bed. "Okay. You already know now that Neil and I were... well... basically just a couple of criminals." He nods. "Well one day your... _Neil_... he finds out that he's wanted for a crime he committed years before, years before he met me at least. He found a wanted poster with his picture on it. He had stolen some watches that were worth a lot of money. He told me all about how he hid them away in a train station locker hoping to go back for them some day and make money off of them but he never went back to get them."

"He... he stole some watches?" Henry asked with a pained grimace.

"Yeah. We did a lot of stupid things back then. I mean I was young and stupid but... well I can't speak for Neil. We never really talked about our past much... otherwise I would have known about Storybrooke and the curse a lot sooner. Anyway... don't interrupt me. You're as bad as David." She smiles at the boy and then looks out the bedroom door tilting her head, having this odd feeling she heard a chuckle, but she shrugs it off and continues with the story. "Neil was worried. He wanted to go in to hiding but he wanted to do this without me. I mean... I didn't want to get left behind, not after I finally found someone who I felt safe with. You know, someone that I... that I..."

"Loved... You can say it. I know you loved him." Henry says sitting up and resting his head against the headboard of the bed.

"Yeah." She clears her throat. "Well... he started hashing out a plan. He wanted to leave the country. I wasn't about to let him do that. I needed him. I didn't... I wasn't just going to let him go so I proposed a new plan. I said we could go to that train station, get those watches from that locker, and sell them. He said that they would recognize him but they wouldn't recognize me so I said I would get them for him. We'd get rid of the evidence, make some money, and with that money we could move to... well... away... Anyway I forgot what I was saying." She clears her throat again.

"So you tried to steal a car that he stole when you met him and now you were going to help him steal watches that he had stolen?" Henry asks settling back down in the bed.

Emma laughs at this comment. "Wow... seems like I just couldn't help but take everything he had huh? That just sounds... terrible... and quit distracting me!" She continues to laugh heartily but calms down a moment later. "So... so when he drove me to that train station I can honestly say I was a nervous. I had to do this... without mistakes. It had to be a clean get away otherwise we'd be in a mess. I manage to go in, avoid the any law enforcement, and then I'm gone. It was a pretty easy getaway for me. I met up with Neil. I handed over the watches and he told me to meet him. He was going to go fence them."

"Fence them?" Henry repeats while squinting his eyes at the term.

"Uh... sell them. He was going to sell them and meet me and we'd leave together. It was pretty dark out so we'd be able to leave town easy enough. I waited a long time for him. I started to worry that something happened but I didn't want to panic. He always came back for me anytime we got separated so I just waited a little longer. I waited a good few hours or so..." Emma frowns.

"He didn't come?" Henry asks as he looks over at her from where he lay on the bed.

"No." She says and then sighs. "I pulled out my cell to call him and I got this message that his phone had been disconnected. Someone else came though... A security officer from the train station. He stopped me... told me that a tip had been called in to check out the video surveillance at the train station. I was the only one on that video. I was the one who went to jail. I didn't know what had happened all I knew was that I now I was alone. I trusted him... and he never came back. He never came to look for me."

"Oh." Henry says in a whisper.

When he doesn't say anything else she decides to clear up something for him. "Henry... the fact that I don't want to be around Neil is not your problem okay? I love you. He loves you. We both just want to be here for you. Things that happened between me and him that's just stuff we have to deal with and maybe we're gonna yell about it once in a while. I can't help how I act around him or how he makes me feel. I don't hate him though. I just... it's just hard for me to trust him you know?"

"Yeah. I know." Henry says quite sadly. "You can though... trust him. He still loves you. Why else would he be here?" He adds with a sleepy smile.

"Henry..." She wants to argue this but the boy does not give her the chance.

"Goodnight." He says quickly and rolls over pulling the blanket over his shoulder.

Emma shakes her head and chuckles. "Goodnight Henry."

Mary Margaret leans over to mockingly whisper in David's ear, "Avoidance, evasion... that's all you right there."

His reply is accompanied by squinting eyes, "Well played my lady. Well played."


	11. Chapter 11

****Hello All. I'd like to start off by saying please bear with me… I'm going to touch on scenes from 2X20 "The Evil Queen Episode" but I kind of wanted to avoid repeating any of the dialogue in those very scenes because I think I've done that enough already. I'm starting to annoy myself with that.****

**Chapter 11**

"Maybe we should have come out here before Emma started telling her story to Henry. I feel a little guilty now that we were eavesdropping." Mary Margaret says to David as they sit on a bench at the harbor. It's late now but they decided to take advantage of the night sky and just be outside enjoying the peace and quiet.

"I'm sure she probably guessed we were listening. She's not completely oblivious to her surroundings. It's scary how in tune she is with things. She knows when something's wrong. She knows when people are lying. She knows how to push us away or even let us in for a few brief seconds. She's just completely _AWARE_ and that's just… amazing to me." He offers with a shrug.

"So… you two seem to be getting along rather well. That's… good." She offers quietly.

"Yeah… I have to say I wasn't expecting it. She doesn't always come to me, at least not how she comes to you for things, but I like that she's accepting of me now. I feel like I'm really a part of her life even if I can't really be the father to her that I wanted to be. She's still letting me in." He smiles as he looks out over the water.

"I'm glad… a little jealous… but still very glad." She says with a smile.

"You know we've spent all this time trying to decide on whether or not we should take Regina with us, but we didn't stop to question if Emma wants to go back with us. I mean I know we offered her sort of a this second chance… a chance for a happy ending, but what if in the end that's not something she really wants? How… do we deal with that?" David asks while holding the woman close.

"I don't know. She's not really talking to me much these days. I figured that was something you might be able to ask her." Mary Margaret offers with a shrug of her own. "There is one thing though that I can't stop thinking about. The other day… before we took her to the bean field. She was pretty upset with us wasn't she? It was almost as if… I don't know…" She shakes her head.

"Like she is having second thoughts about being part of a family?" David asks now trying to meet eyes with her.

"It's just that I remember how when I first met her as… well as Mary Margaret, she seemed to want to be on her own. I mean she went so far as to say that she did better on her own. What if it's too much too soon? I mean we weren't exactly smothering her at that moment… were we? You were joking with her not five seconds before she changed her attitude."

"I noticed it too. Maybe she just needs some space. I can see that. I mean she started off with just Henry. It's just snowballed in to a whole family that just keeps growing. She found us and now Henry's father is in the picture. It's just a big mess of people now. From no one to everyone… that's big."

"I think the biggest twist of all is Neil don't you? I don't think she's taking this lightly. I mean when she called me to tell me she found Gold's son and that Gold's son was actually Henry's father I think I almost dropped the phone. She sounded so… conflicted. It was like she wanted my permission to continue to lie to Henry. I had hoped I talked her out of it but she… well she never told me what happened and really who has had the time to stop to discuss these things. We've been running around trying to protect ourselves and everyone in this crazy family of ours."

"I think you're right. I also think that perhaps she might still love him." He offers with a shrug. "Not that I approve of him. I mean he did do wrong by her. You heard the story. He hurt her badly… but I see it. I see it in her eyes. She never got any closure and I don't think she's handling his engagement well at all." He finishes with a frown.

"Not that she's going to tell either one of us that. She does have the whole aversion and avoidance thing she gets from her father." Mary Margaret says as she nudges him playfully.

"Nice try but she's always going to be more like her mother. You know every time I ask her about Neil she gets very defensive. I can't help but remember how you were when I first met you." He says reminiscently.

"I was _not_ defensive. Tell me… when was I ever defensive?" She asks quite sure that she is in the right here.

"When I had you trapped in that net. I knew that you were already very much in love with me." He says smugly.

"I was not! I barely knew you. Not to mention you insulted me. At any rate I didn't believe in all that true love, or love at first sight nonsense."

"Not then you didn't but later… and if this is not you being defensive I don't know what is." Mary Margaret scoffs and gapes her mouth. "See… there's that familiar expression. Hello Emma." He says jokingly.

"She does not… she's not like me. I don't do that!" She smiles but growls quite exasperated. "Have I told you lately how much you annoy me?" David only laughs at hearing these familiar words from the lips of his wife. "_NOW_ what is so funny?" She asks quite annoyed with him as she just stated.

"I think…" He says shaking his head, already planning to change the subject on her, as he gets up and offers a hand to her. "Maybe we should head on back home… want to get an early start. We're just that much closer to getting home." He says this with a slight grin as if this should be the best news in the world.

"And yet we are still so uncertain if that will be together as a family or not." Mary Margaret offers sadly as they make their way home through the dark of night.

"Let's not worry too much about it now. If I get the chance to I'll ask her. We'll figure this all out."

The next morning David is out of the apartment before first light which means he did not get much in the way of sleep. Mary Margaret stays behind to watch Henry for a while so Emma makes her way to the diner.

When she walks in to the diner she sees Tamara and right away thinks of a way to interact with her. She hesitates at the door so that with ever perfect timing she can less than innocently "_bump in to"_ Tamara. She still didn't trust this woman. For someone who comes from the real world she was pretty quick to accept that her fiancé came from a land of fairytales and magic. No one in their right mind would accept that so quickly. Emma herself had doubts from the beginning. She had to be crazy not to have those doubts… of course that was then and this is… now.

Her plan does not go to waste. She does bump in to Tamara maybe using a bit more force than was necessary but still is had the desired effect. After being polite and helping the woman to gather her things she was thrown off her game a bit when she noticed the slip of paper with everyone's Storybrooke Aliases. If that were not enough to set alarm bells off in her head the fact that Tamara offering that she is to be trusted only confirmed to Emma the complete opposite.

She rushed home to tell whoever might be there about her suspicions. Mary Margaret did not accept this idea the way she had hoped. It actually made her wish that she had come home to find David first as he seems to have been more receptive to her these days. It didn't help that Mary Margaret thought Emma was now blinded by her own feelings for Neil.

Sure she cared about Neil, sure he was a part of her past, but she was getting pretty tired of having to defend herself of that very fact. Mary Margaret only offered to her that she needed to gather more evidence. If she was so certain that Tamara was up to something she needed proof and once she had it everyone would see that this wasn't about Emma trying to get Neil back. It was about keeping her family safe from someone that August had insisted was a threat, this dangerous "She".

Henry having overhead the whole conversation about Tamara now wanted in on this little operation going so far as to come up with a new name for it. Emma did not want to admit out loud but it was nice that she didn't have to do this on her own. Sure she did the exact opposite of what Mary Margaret had said. Not only did she _NOT_ keep Henry out of this but she allowed him to tag along. _"How's that for resentment." _Emma muses to herself.

When Neil and Tamara finally left the Bed and Breakfast Henry and Emma made their way in. She would use Henry as a lookout and try to find something to prove once and for all that Tamara was a threat. Henry was new to this lookout gig though and had a few questions.

"What do I do if someone comes?" He asks and Emma has to find it in her not to laugh at him for this. She shows her own son how to _"sound the alarm"_ so to speak. Something the boy's father had shown her. What a twist of fate.

Emma is quick to look in the most obvious of places first, opening a few dresser drawers, the closet, and under the bed but when she finally does find something of interest in that loose floorboard she can hear the sound of the door being opened. "Emma?" Neil calls to her in quite the accusatory tone.

Emma can only frown as she makes eye contact with Henry. Clearly she did not choose the right partner in crime today.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Searching that room at the bed and breakfast did not go as planned. She did not manage to find any sort of proof. There was nothing hidden in the loose floorboard and it seemed the only thing Emma managed to prove, at least to everyone else, was that she was looking for a reason to get Tamara out of Neil's life.

"It's okay you know?" Henry offers as he buckles his seat belt. "We'll find another way to get rid of Tamara."

"Henry…" She grumbles as she puts the car in to gear. "That is not what we are doing. Will you just listen to me? I am not trying to break them up." She says quite exasperated.

"Sure." Henry says with a nod and does nothing to hide the smirk on his face.

"Look, we are not talking about this anymore okay? I shouldn't have brought you with me. Your grandmother was right and I should have listened to her. I don't want you getting your hopes up for something that _IS NOT_ going to happen okay? Even if it were possible that is not something any of us need to be thinking about right now." Emma offers quite defeated.

"If it were possible?" Henry repeats with bright eyes and a hopeful smile. "You just said…"

"Henry! Just drop it. I get enough harassment from Mary Margaret and David. I don't need you pushing me. You got that?" She asks him but the boy says nothing and simply stares ahead as they drive back to the apartment.

When they make it back Mary Margaret and David are sitting at the kitchen table. Henry greets them both as he makes his way over to sit down while Emma plans on heading upstairs to her room.

"Emma? I made some lunch do you want anything?" Mary Margaret offers.

"No thanks." She grumbles from the stairs not bothering to turn back around.

"What's wrong with her?" David asks eyeing Henry.

He shrugs and grabs a plate and a sandwich. "We went out on a stake out but I think she's upset that we didn't find any proof… about Tamara being evil."

"What? She… you didn't… she took you with her?" Mary Margaret finally manages to ask through all her sputtering. "I specifically told her to keep all of this to herself." She says looking over at David.

David's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he clears his throat before getting up from his seat. "Let me… go… talk to her." He says in a stutter as he makes his way up the stairs.

The bedroom door is wide open and Emma is lying on the bed, her feet hanging off the side touching the floor, and her hands folded together over her stomach as she stares at the ceiling. "I don't want to talk about it."

He only shakes his head and chuckles at her. "You know… you say that a lot." He says as he stands close enough so that he can meet eyes with her. "Mary Margaret just about had a heart attack down there. Henry told us you went to search Tamara and Neil's room. Judging by this current display of… what is that… defeat… you didn't find what you were looking for?"

Emma rolls her eyes. "No. I didn't. You know what the worst part about all of this is? For being the son of two rather resourceful people my son is terrible at being inconspicuous. He must get that from his grandmother." She finally concludes aloud.

David laughs at hearing this. "Well there's no argument there."

"I know Tamara has something to do with August's warning. She has to be somehow. I mean how do you just come to grips with magic and fairytales overnight? I didn't even do that and I have magic. If she's not involved in some plot then she's definitely crazy."

David crosses his arms over his chest. "That's possible… but do you know what else is possible? She might just love Neil enough to take his word for it." He says with a tilt of his head.

Emma, with almost a Regina like snarl, rolls her eyes and scoffs rather disgusted at the thought. "Look… Mary Margaret thinks that I'm doing all of this because I'm so blinded by how I feel about Neil. I don't have feelings for him. I don't know how many times I have to keep saying that to everyone. He's just some guy from my past." She says spreading her arms in the air like something should be displayed before her. "I'd love to come out and just say… _We were cursed! _It's wonderful how you two seem to get by with that excuse." She says leaning up on her elbows.

David laughs once again before making his way to sit down on the bed beside her. "Well if you're done… not talking about it…" He smiles and looks down at her. "You mind explaining how you got Henry involved in all of this?"

"Oh… that… Well you know he's a sneaky kid. When I came in earlier to talk to Mary Margaret he might have overheard me talking about Tamara and he was pretty set on helping me find proof. You know very well that once he's set on something you can't change his mind. I had to bring him with me at that point. I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't fun but he's not as skilled as I'd like him to be. He wasn't up for the challenge." She says smiling now. "He's a terrible lookout he let Neil right in."

"Well… I still think he had fun with you today regardless of the outcome."

"Yeah, the outcome that Mary Margaret predicted. Henry now thinks that I am trying to break up Tamara and Neil simply to have a shot at him." She offers with a shrug then she grimaces. "You know? When I was picking the lock Henry was talking about…" She laughs uncomfortably. "Well he suggested that once Neil was single again that with a little wine and moonlight something might happen between us. Who knew that ridiculously cheesy and romantic side of you would show up in my son?" She says slapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Wow. Thanks so much for that wonderful, not insulting, compliment." He says as he gets up and offers a hand to her. "Do you want to come down for some lunch now, or do you need some more alone time?"

She stands and stuffs her hands in her pockets looking around. "Well… I'd love to avoid an _'I told you so'_ from my mother." She says with a small smile.

David nods, "Well… we're headed back out to the bean field so you'll have plenty of time without your parents here to harass you." He says and then realizes that now is the chance to ask his question of Emma but she doesn't give him that chance.

"You know? Uh…" She frowns and stares at the space in the floor between them. "Henry… I sort of accidentally gave him the idea that we might be going back to… well to where we came from. He seems really excited but I don't know what that means exactly." She says turning around to absentmindedly pace. "I don't know if he's just excited because he wants it to be all magic and rainbows or if he wants to go because we'll be there together."

"So… we'll be there together then?" David tries to sound casual about this.

"If Henry goes… I don't have much of a choice do I? I can't give him up a second time. What kind of parent would I be if I did that? I can't just abandon him for another ten years." She says widening her eyes.

"How about for twenty eight years?" David says and he sees the way Emma tenses up before turning back around to face him.

"I didn't mean it to come out like that. You didn't abandon me." She says shaking her head sternly. "You were protecting me. We're here now… stop bringing that up." She says pointedly.

"It doesn't change the fact that we all had choices to make then… and now we have new ones. I don't want you to feel pressured in to going to another land but we'd like to keep you with us. I understand we can't make you do anything. We have no right to tell you what to do…" David offers. "I just don't want this to be where we go our separate ways. We've only just started to be a family but I want going back to be your choice."

"I know and I want the same choice for Henry. I won't make him stay behind for me. I actually really doubt that I can make him do anything." She says with a chuckle. "Let's hope though that we can manage to find the time to actually discuss all of this for once and not have to jump in to action."

David nods. "Alright well… you can stay up here in your fortress of solitude." He says with a smile. "After we finish lunch we're meeting up with Grumpy and headed over to the bean field. I tried to get them together this morning but I think the dwarves overindulged in celebratory drinks last night. I'm surprised we didn't get called in to make a couple of arrests actually." He says laughing.

"Well it did seem a bit too quiet last night... but at least that made it easier for you two to eavesdrop on my story to Henry." She says and then grins as David's face reddens slightly with embarrassment. He clears his throat and makes his way out of the bedroom leaving Emma to bask in her now cheerful mood.

****I feel like my comments are for naught at this point but I still want to say thank you for the reads, reviews, and follows. :)****


	13. Chapter 13

****Now we find ourselves between the cracks of 2X21"SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT". I warn you this is a very lackluster chapter... which calls for another two chapter update. :D****

**Chapter 13**

David and Mary Margaret were not gone from the apartment but twenty minutes before Emma got a phone call from her father explaining that the bean field had been reduced to ash. She was at odds with her feelings at that point. She was glad they wouldn't have to leave Storybrooke now but this meant that someone else might have those beans and was out to wreak havoc.

She wasn't about to blurt out her accusations just yet although Tamara's name was at the forefront on her list of suspects. She waited for her parents to meet both her and Henry at the apartment once more. There was about a five minute discussion once they did arrive because Emma wasn't the only person with suspicions. Mary Margaret thought it best to start with Regina The Evil Queen herself. Not that there was much proof to search her out but just to put everyone at ease David suggested that the Mayor's office would be a good place to start.

There was no fighting Henry at this point on coming along to search for his adoptive mother. He wanted to be sure no harm came of her and there was also that discussion he had with Emma about wanting to be kept in the loop so there he was in the thick of things. Emma and David insisted though, once they got to the city hall, that Henry and Mary Margaret wait on their word before entering any rooms.

Father and Daughter make their way in to the mayor's office with guns blazing only to find it empty. Emma noticed that the security alarm had been overridden. It did not make sense for Regina to override her own security alarm so they knew that something was not right. In a case they also found remnants of what looked to be magical beans but the beans were missing. The person who had Regina probably had the beans as well. Once again the prime suspect, at least in Emma's mind, was Tamara.

Emma made her way to search that room at the bed and breakfast once again, this time with Neil's permission. A search of the room only provided one piece of evidence that lead both Emma and Neil to the water's edge.

During the whole search of the beach front Emma was trying to do all she could to get Neil to see that Tamara was not who she said she was and if he thought it was for selfish reasons she was sure to point out his mistake... or at least make it seem that way. Once Neil started to accuse her the same as everyone else had, that she was being driven by emotion rather than reason, she could not help but respond in anger and frustration. "You really think this about me trying to break up you and Tamara? What do you want to hear Neil? That it killed me how you never came looking for me?" While she tried not to make it sound as desperate and heartbreaking as it felt she did not have a chance to clarify as her prime suspect happened upon the beach.

Instantly Emma quieted down. The best thing to do in situations like this was wait for someone to speak up in error. She allowed Neil to talk to his fiancée and when she had an excuse for everything and an answer for every question Emma had no choice but to let it go and find another way to prove her theory. Without proof she was left even more embarrassed than she had been before and as she tried to make her getaway to avoid any awkwardness with Neil he offered his apologies.

At first Emma fought to avoid hearing anything he may have to say but there it was, the truth and sincerity pouring forth from his mouth. The very words she had needed to hear all along if only to have peace of mind about how her life turned out without him. There was the comfort they found in each other, the ability to speak their minds and not feel exposed, there was the mutual fondness floating to the surface but there was no time to dwell on their past now. Emma still had to find out where Regina was and to either prove or disprove that Tamara may somehow be involved in some evil plot.

After another phone call from David about where Regina might be she put two and two together to come up with one place, the Storybrooke cannery. She told David that he and Mary Margaret should meet up with her there. This was her call for backup. With Neil following behind her she could not help but question his allegiance at the moment. If Tamara was behind this situation, if she had Regina held up in that place now, would Neil side with or against her family.

"Sure, if Tamara is holding up Regina out here I got your back." Neil offers and although it sounds a bit sarcastic Emma takes him at his word.

With David and Mary Margaret searching through one side of the building Neil continues his search with Emma. It isn't long before a call on the radio provides some news. They had found Regina but Greg Mendel had apparently got away. At hearing Greg Mendel's name Emma's stomach turned. How could she have gotten this all wrong. She was so sure it had been Tamara. Had she really been blinded by her feelings for Neil? She didn't have time to question that though, before Neil could continue to defend Tamara's name Emma is hit from behind and knocked out cold by the force of the blow.

When she finally comes to she's quick to tap into what is happening around her. Tamara draws her gun on Neil and shoots him. As he falls back Emma snaps and rushes over to affectively disarm the woman. A struggle ensues but there's no way Emma is going to back down from a fight, especially not now that she knows her instincts were right all along. When she thinks she's finally got Tamara where she wants her the woman throws a magic bean opening a portal on the walkway. Emma instantly prepares herself and grabs on to whatever she can to keep herself from entering a portal to who knows what world.

Tamara flees the scene leaving Neil and Emma behind to deal with this open portal. When Neil goes to ground Emma he adds weight to the space at the edge of the portal opening so the floor gives out sending Emma to scramble for a hold on the ledge and keep Neil from falling in to the portal. Seeing him there... knowing he has been wounded, she literally holds his life in her hands.

Neil tries to convince Emma to let him go, that she has to stay put for Henry, "Henry needs you. Don't let him grow up the way we did..." but knowing that he is wounded and that he will die no matter what world he falls in to is enough to make her tighten her grip.

"Then don't let go..." She offers as a desperate suggestion. "I need you." She says now breathlessly and then it happens. Her mouth takes on a mind of its own daring to let loose the words that flow swiftly from her heart rather than her mind. "I love you."

Neil smiles and only offers, "I love you too..." before loosening his grip on her hand to fall in to the portal. The portal closes the instant he falls through leaving Emma behind brokenhearted once more.

Emma rests there on the floor for some time. She can't seem to bring herself to move from this spot. Never one to sugar coat things for herself, she knew that the only fate left to Neil now would be death. _I should have held on tighter._ _I could have used my magic. _She regrets to think. _I should have told him I loved him sooner._

She stands up and stares at the split boards before her. _He's dead now isn't he? He's gone._ Her body feels numb. She's been beaten over the head and fought in a struggle but nothing hurts more than her heart right now. She loses grip on the radio she hadn't realized she was still holding. It falls down beside her and makes a loud cracking noise which brings her to her senses. She looks around for her gun, knowing that there are still things she needs to do.

She can't think to walk casually as her body sends her in to a rush. She runs. She runs in the direction of home, where her family might be waiting for her. She runs because it's all she can do to fight the tears from coming back. She can't be broken, not now, not when there is still a real threat to the town. She runs all the while seeing the image of Neil's smiling face declaring his love for her as he practically sacrifices himself, the thing he had wanted to do for her in the past, to take the fall for her.

When she is just outside the apartment door she pep talks herself. _Hold it together. If Henry is here he can't see me broken. If Henry is here... Oh God! Henry!_ She takes a deep breath, tries to keep her face void of emotion, and makes her way in to the apartment. She finds her parents but does not bother acknowledging whomever else is in the room.

She thinks to meet eyes with Mary Margaret first but knows better of it. That woman always brings out her weakest reactions so she searches the eyes of David, the person she has come to lean on. "What happened he asks?"

When Emma does not respond Mary Margaret asks, "Where's Neil?"

Emma struggles to compose herself. That question alone could be her undoing, it was like having someone ask what is wrong when you're holding on by a thread. The only thing she can think to do, to be able to keep her tears at bay, is to speak just above whisper, "He's gone... Tamara killed him." Then she does all she can to avoid their eyes. _Just hang on Emma. Don't fall apart. Just focus... you can't..._

David moves to her but she lowers her gaze to the floor. Her brow instantly creases in anger. She doesn't want to be seen this way. She doesn't want to fall apart here. She takes a step back and tries to make it to her bedroom upstairs but as she makes it up about the third step there is a hand firmly grasping at her forearm. She draws in a shaky breath still trying to fend off tears.

She feels that hand grasp a little tighter. She's being pulled back down the stairs and in an effort to fight this person off she sits down on the stairs. The hand let's go of her and out of the corner of her eye she realizes that it is her father who takes a seat just beside her on the staircase.

_I can't cry. I won't cry. I can't cry anymore..._ She thinks to herself as a comforting hand comes to rest on her back.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Emma does not speak for some time as she sits there on the stairs with David. She shuts her eyes and focuses on her breathing. She tries to will away the pain, to let loose the clenching in her throat, but she is simply too stubborn to let herself break down. "Emma... I'm so sorry." David whispers to her as he rubs her back.

_He's sorry because he knows. It's annoying how he knows, how he has been right all along, how everyone has been so right. I still loved Neil. I just found him after all this time. He just met Henry and now he's gone. _"How... am I supposed to tell Henry?" She manages to ask in a strangled whisper.

David can't take this anymore. The sight of Emma trying to hold it together is too much. He reaches out a hand to pull her close and plant a tender kiss atop her head. When he feels her lean in to him he whispers to her, "Emma, you don't need to hold it in."

"No... don't..." She says in a low growl as she jerks away. "Don't try to make me feel better about this. I can't fall apart. I... I can't be like this in front of Henry. I need to see him. I have to tell him. I have to do this my way. Okay?" Emma asks in a pained plea as she finally turns to meet eyes with David.

"Okay." He says as he reaches over to take her hand. He lifts it to his lips to kiss the back of it and then stands to make his way over to Mary Margaret in the bedroom.

Emma remains seated on the stairs, her eyes shut in concentration. She is trying desperately to put back on her mask, to build up that wall that carried her through most of her life. The wall that was supposed to keep her from feeling things like pain. _The sooner we leave the sooner I can get this... thing... over with. _She thinks to herself.

She didn't have to wait long as David walks back over with his wife in tow. Mary Margaret attempts to reach out and take Emma by the hand but she stands, moving out of her reach, and proceeds to walk out the door to lead them to the truck. "Granny's watching over Henry. They're at the park." Mary Margaret offers as they load in to the truck.

Emma stares at the road in front of them not wanting to draw out some sort of conversation with either one of her parents at the moment. She needed to think about Henry. She had to focus all her efforts right now on explaining to him that the father he did not know existed until just recently is now dead. "Why is it that all I ever have to share with Henry is bad news?" She asks aloud but does not really expect an answer.

Mary Margaret gives Emma a sideways glance before she turns to meet eyes with David as if she were asking permission to say or do something. When he shakes his head in the negative she holds back when all she really wanted to do in that moment was wrap her arms around Emma.

They pull to a stop at the park, in the distance Emma can see Henry on a rope swing. She hesitates before finally hopping out of the truck. She follows David and Mary Margaret to where Mr. Gold is now standing. She ignores their conversation and simply stares in the direction that Henry still is. _I can't do this._ She thinks to herself before her thoughts are interrupted. "Emma. Go talk to you son." Mary Margaret says with a gentle push.

Somehow, someway, her legs manage to carry her over to Henry. She waves him over to a bench nearby and he runs to her quickly with a smile on his face. That smile quickly fades as he notes the glaze in her eyes and her bruised face. "Something bad has happened." He says simply.

Emma nods as she reaches out to grab him by the arms to attempt to ground herself to him. "Yeah Henry. I... I was right about Tamara. She... well she's the one who got a hold of your mom. She and Greg Mendel had her and they were... well they were torturing her... but... that's not all." Emma says and then she throws her gaze to the ground beside them.

"She's not dead is she?" Henry asks ducking his head trying to make Emma look at him.

"No... she's... your mom is fine. She's back at the apartment but... Henry, by the time we all realized Tamara was a part of things she already knew we were on to her. She... well she attacked us. She fought with me and beat me pretty good but when I thought I had her she... well she opened up a portal with one of those magic beans she stole. I almost fell in myself but Neil saved me. He... well he fell in to the portal to who knows what world."

Ever the optimist Henry is quick to respond. "We can find him though right? There has to be more beans. We can follow him. We can save him... We..."

"Henry..." She interrupts him, "Tamara shot Neil. I don't think he..."

"But... he saved you. He's a hero. Heroes don't... He can't be..."

"He's gone Henry. I'm sorry... but he's... he's gone." She offers in a stutter now. The relief of finally speaking those words comes in the form of a gasp. Henry lurches forward in to her arms and she holds him close. The truth of this world is that there are never any happy endings. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Henry mutters in to her chest before looking up in to her eyes. "I know you loved him." Emma only smiles and tucks his head under her chin.

After a moment of silence between them she turns to look over to where she left her parents with Gold. It's apparent from his body language that he now knows the fate of his son. At least this reaction proves he has a heart.

"I want to see my mom." Henry offers as he pulls away from Emma.

"Alright. Let's go." She says as she stands and lets him lead the way. She waves her thanks to Granny who walks off with her crossbow in tow.

"Gold's not willing to help us here..." David says meeting eyes with Emma as she and Henry come closer. "We have to figure this out. Greg and Tamara are out there with the trigger they stole from Regina. We don't know if it's been activated or not."

"What trigger?" Emma asks suddenly.

"Let's head back to the apartment. We need to talk to Regina. We'll explain it on the way." David says as they all rush over to pile in to the truck.

"Regina is the one who stole the beans from the field first. She was going to activate this fail safe or this trigger that she had stored and use the beans to get away. This trigger would set the town back to before the curse was cast but not without taking our lives with it." Mary Margaret offers first.

"What the hell does that even mean?!" Emma cannot help but shout. "She was just going to kill us all?"

"No." David speaks up as he rushes to get them all to the apartment. "She wanted to take Henry with her and just leave us behind."

"Great... that's just... great." Emma mutters now while Henry himself looks at her in panic.

"But she didn't do it right?" Henry asks in a rush.

"No she didn't." David is quick to answer the boy. "Greg and Tamara kidnapped her just after she went to collect this trigger. They have it now so who knows what they've done with it or where they are headed for that matter." David says with nothing but worry. "We have to do what we can to stop them. We still don't know why they captured Regina to begin with. She'll have to tell us all that."

When they pull up to the curb outside the apartment building Henry barrels over Emma and rushes out the truck. "Henry! Hold up..." She calls out to him as she tries to get her balance back from nearly being thrown out of the truck. She turns around to Mary Margaret. "I didn't even get a good look at her. Is she... did she look bad?" Emma asks as they all jog along to catch up with Henry before he just barges in.

"She looked fine to me. Greg Mendel had her hooked up to some sort of a machine. It was running currents of electricity through her." Mary Margaret offers with a grimace though Emma looks unfazed by this.

"Well I wonder what she did to him to deserve that?" Emma says now in a grumble as they meet Henry who stands at the front door. Apparently it was locked otherwise she was sure he'd have run in there by now. As David goes to unlock the door she grabs Henry by the shoulder, "She's probably been through some... some intense pain." She says shaking her head quickly at the thought. "Just take it easy on her."

Once the door is opened however Henry pays no mind and rushes past them. Emma follows her parents in to find Regina standing there as if nothing has happened to her at all. She spreads her arms out and calls for Henry to come to her. She holds him close and suddenly the apartment shakes violently. _This can't be good._ Emma thinks. "Regina? Was that..."

"Yes, the diamond was activated." She offers and suddenly the room feels thick with panic.

****You know... I really did not intend on taking the story this far but I guess if there's still interest I might have another chapter or two in me. Thanks for the reads by the way and the reviews.****


	15. Chapter 15

****I did not anticipate adding more characters. This just got harder guys lol. Regina and Hook were involved in the finale though so here they are in the story. I'm still trying to focus on Emma and David though. That's what the story was about after all. **

**Also... I feel like I made a lot more mistakes than normal but I can always fix them later if they bother anyone. lol****

**Chapter 15**

With the trigger now active and the fate of Storybrooke looking quite grim, Emma is not going to sit back and take this lightly. She argues with Regina for some time to try and get her to stop this trigger but when she says there is not a way to stop it she offers to forestall the inevitable. David in turn would go with Hook to try to steal back the beans from Greg and Tamara so that everyone would leave before Storybrooke fell to the effects of the trigger.

Emma is quiet as she drives Regina to the mines where Hook told them the trigger had been activated from. The only thing running through her mind was, _I can't stop now. I can't lose it all. I cannot lose my family now._ She never notices the way Regina sits in the passenger's seat staring at the dash in thought, mentally preparing herself for what is to come.

When Emma pulls to a stop just outside the mines and reaches for her door Regina grabs her arm to stop her. She watches at the woman lets her face be void of most emotion and waits for her to explain herself. "I'm... sorry." She says in a stutter.

Emma jerks her arm away, "Regina..." She says the woman's name in a grumble. "We don't have time for this." When she is met with a now hurt expression she sighs. "Can we just... get on with this please?" She offers in a whisper now. Regina nods and without a word she let's herself out of the car.

They make their way in to the mines, Emma leading the way with a flashlight, while Regina struggles to keep up. It's not that she's afraid, she knows what she has to do, it's more that she's struggling to be the one who everyone is depending on now. This isn't just about Henry. This isn't just about redeeming herself. This is about doing good just do to do good, but she can't help but feel a little put off about this because the only person it would matter to isn't even here to see her do it. Regina is about to speak up and explain her intensions now but Emma speaks up first.

"I can feel it." She says as they walk on. "It's like the oxygen is being sucked out of the air."

"Not the oxygen, the magic." Regina clarifies. They find the trigger when they make the next turn. She knows now that this is where she'll have to explain exactly what it is she plans to do in these mines. She offers up that she will contain the energy of this self destruct for as long as she can but it will require all of the strength she has.

Emma studies Regina's face looking for some sort of sign that this is all just a trick, that this woman still does not have any intension of doing good but she finds nothing but pain in the woman and she realizes, "When you said goodbye to Henry... you were saying... goodbye."

Regina knew all along that this might happen, that she would have to basically sacrifice herself for everyone else. Emma pleads with Regina, offering that there had to be another way but then Regina tries again to offer some sort of an apology. "You were right you know... everything that's happening is my fault. I created this device, it's only fitting that it takes my life."

Emma stands there dumbfounded. Sure she and Regina didn't always see eye to eye but Henry was always the reason they put up with each other. He mattered to them and Regina mattered to Henry. She couldn't just let her do this. He just lost his father, how was she going to explain that his mother was just going to let herself go. "What am I supposed to tell Henry?"

Regina says that she only needs Henry to know that in the end it wasn't too late for her to do the right thing. Emma does not argue and then decides that she can't change the woman's mind. She knew her all too well to know that arguing wasn't going to change her mind only complicate the situation. Then again maybe it was all part of the grand scheme of things. Maybe she should put up a fight here. She turns around with every intention of drawing things out but by then Regina has already tapped in to the power of the failsafe so she has no choice but to leave and warn the others if they plan to get out of the town safely.

She steps in to the diner and looks around for David and when he isn't there she holds her breathe. She can't just rush in to things. If David didn't get the beans there are a great many other things to deal with besides the fact that Regina is about to sacrifice herself for them. A moment later David rushes through the door declaring that he got the beans so she makes her way to him trying to avoid Henry and Mary Margaret for as long as possible. They were not going to like what news she carried.

David is injured but merely brushes off Emma's concern as she touches a hand to his arm. "It's a graze, it's fine."

She takes him at his word and realizes that this is it. She has yet one more sad piece of news to offer. After she announces that it's time for them to make their getaway she calls to the boy "Henry."

"Wait... where's my Mom?" He asks right away and she knows there's no way to avoid this now.

She explains that she could only hold off the self destruct device long enough for everyone to escape but Henry isn't going take this sitting down. He is adamant that this is always another way. He reminds her of how they had saved Regina from that wraith when the easiest thing then had been to let it take Regina's life. She promised Henry then that she would keep Regina safe and she did but not without putting herself in harm's way.

After she realizes that they were staring at a solution now Mary Margaret speaks up. She suggests that maybe they could spare Regina and everyone else by using the same tactic of sending this failsafe through a portal but Emma was reluctant to agree. She offers that this idea may fail and no one would go along with it. Unfortunately for her argument the people that mattered here were in the diner. Archie speaks up on their behalf.

Archie brings up his past of how Snow White and Prince Charming had led them before and they always won. They would gladly put their fate in their hands now knowing this to be true still. With everyone in the diner in agreement Emma is now put on the spot.

Back in the days before the curse had broke, Emma was presented with a similar situation. August had taken Emma on a trip to show her how she came in to this modern world, this world without magic. He bestowed on her the charge of the safety and happiness of an entire town. She did not want that and she didn't want this now. The truth was she just wanted to take her family out of here and get them to safety because it was the logical and easiest route to take but here she is being met not just with arguments from a man who was once a cricket, she was being faced down with an argument from her own mother.

Mary Margaret then offers a mother's plea. She asks Emma to trust in their instincts. She asks that she trust them when they say that doing the right thing is the only thing left to do. She asks for Emma to accept that even though doing the right thing is hard going the easy route does nothing but cost lives and create more trouble than anything is worth.

Emma thinks, granted she doesn't have a lot of time to waste thinking, but she thinks. She looks at Henry and sees the quiet plea in his eyes asking her to believe that this is a chance to be the hero he's always known her to be. She can't bear to meet her mother's gaze knowing she'll only fall apart if she does so. This only causes her to become a bit angry with herself so she turns instead to David, someone she has come to lean on in the last few days, someone she seems to gain her strength from. She meets eyes with this man and when all she sees is hope there she can't help but relent. In an ever reluctant voice she says "Okay."

Though she feels this may possibly be the last time she will ever be met with resistance from her own family, she is still glad that in this moment there is a family to be had. She'll do whatever she has to so that Henry will not be alone. She will not allow him to grow up the way his father and mother did and Emma is anything if not a woman of her word. There was still a lot of fight left in her, she may as well put it to good use.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Once Again the four of them pile in to David's old truck. It has become a common thing where the silence sets in but this time it is due to the sense of urgency they are all feeling. Everyone is simply too caught up with their own thoughts to speak now. Emma trying to hold on to her sanity in her panicked state, Henry wishing for everyone's happy endings, Mary Margaret hoping her instincts are correct, and David just trying to navigate through town as quickly as possible so that they will have time to enact this plan to spare the town and the people within it... his family.

Henry again is the first to vacate the truck and run to the entrance of the mines. He made it perfectly clear that there was no way they were leaving Regina to her death because she was his family regardless of who she used to be and family does not get left behind. When he said that to her in the diner Emma felt a little guilty about trying to hurry him into leaving.

Emma tries to keep herself from grabbing hold of Henry to keep him close but thought better of it. She was having this sort of panicked reaction to everything that's happing now. She's trying to let Mary Margaret have the benefit of the doubt here but it's hard to let go of your view of life. Emma did not do optimistic. She stands there holding her breath as Henry begins to explain to Regina that she is now a hero because she was willing to sacrifice herself to save them so in turn they would save her from this fate she did not deserve.

Regina tries to argue. Even going so far as to share in Emma's skepticism by offering her own thoughts on this plan, "You don't know that it'll work." While Mary Margaret simply says that they have to try.

When David pulls Henry and Mary Margaret aside he gives Emma a look that tells her to go ahead and as she stares at the pouch in her hands she feels her heart pounding. They were going to use the bean in here with the hopes that they could send away this trigger and then what? What if she missed? What if she sends Regina in to the portal with it? _What If...?_

All of her _"What if's"_ are for naught as she reaches in to the pouch only to find it empty. Her heart sinks now with dread. Hook had taken the bean and left them to this fate. They were all going to die here and Henry would most definitely be alone.

Everything feels as if it is happening in slow motion. She can feel her heart pounding, almost hear the thud of it in her head, as all these thoughts come to her in a rush. Her promise is now broken. She's about to lose it all. A lifetime of searching, of holding out for that little miracle, that she would find her family and here they were. "_This is how it ends?" _She thinks to herself. _"I fought and I fought. I kept pushing myself, holding out hope, for this? I don't even get the chance to... to tell my family how glad I am to have found them or how much I love them?"_

She drops the empty pouch on the ground and as it hits her. She's sad, she's hurt, she's angry all at once but if this is all the time she has left with them now she has to make the most of it. She moves slowly to her parents and calls out the names she never thought she'd get the courage to. "Mom... Dad..." She says before her eyes are filled with tears. She doesn't have time to say her "sorry's" but none of that matters as she is soon wrapped up in their awaiting arms. She is able to whisper just loud enough for David to hear, "If this is how it has to end..." but doesn't finish that thought as she feels Henry pull out from under the impromptu group hug.

The boy makes his way over to Regina to offer her a goodbye embrace of sorts. If this is the end he did not want her to be alone even if this would be his fate soon once the job of the Trigger is done. "I wish I was strong enough to stop all of this." She whispers to him but Emma manages to hear.

To hear this woman declare her love for Henry and know it was true was a little gut wrenching. She never had reason to question Regina's declarations of love for the boy. When she asked her that first day outside the woman's house if she loved Henry her super power was not triggered then, it hasn't been triggered since. There was no doubt in her mind that Regina loved Henry.

This woman had been capable of love even with a mother whom offered that Love was weakness. It was Emma herself who declared that Love was strength. _"Love is strength?"_ She suddenly thinks as she pulls away from her parents. She meets eyes with David and he sees this look in her eyes. There's a realization there and once she she's hope staring back at her from his eyes she turns to say, "You may not be strong enough... but maybe we are?"

Regina doesn't understand right away. She stares at Emma and watches as David pulls his wife and grandson out of the way. She finally grasps what the blonde is trying to tell her. The savior, she has magic.

Emma is a bit hesitant. She hasn't been so great at honing her magic but she knows that it takes more than just a will or a thought, magic needs a reason. She meets eyes with Regina unsure of how to begin but she reaches out her hands over the bright diamond that is floating between her and the other woman and she remembers the only coaching she has received thus far, _"Think of the ones you love. Think of who you're trying to protect." _So then the power of the trigger starts to flow in to her and her body trembles, much like Regina's does, as she absorbs it's magic. This wasn't about containment anymore, they had to shut this thing off.

Suddenly they are thrown in separate directions as the trigger reacts to their combined efforts. Emma takes a while to come to her senses, the fact that she wasn't use to absorbing magic might have been what weakened her, but she doesn't have time to analyze this. She hears her mother calling her name and tries to sit up on her own but can't. Then she feels a set of strong arms pulling her to her feet and she finally registers that everyone is still alive. Even though she was the one who helped in that she is not able to contain her shock as she says, "We did it."

She watches as Regina makes her way over with the trigger in hand and a relieved smile on her face, "Yes we did."

"Gotta hand it to Henry. He's right about a lot of things." David offers as he grabs a hold of his wife as if trying to verify she is real and not a hallucination.

"Yes he is... isn't that right kid?" Emma says but notices he isn't anywhere to be seen. She calls out to him. "Henry?" She makes her way down to search him out. There's no reason for him to have run off at a time like this. Then she sees something on the path. She bends down to grab it, Henry's bag, and from the looks of it he didn't mean to leave it behind. "They took him." Emma deduces and soon everyone is in a scramble to get out of the mines but Emma doesn't make her way to the truck.

Her life may have been nothing but searching for people but she can't claim it didn't work in her favor. She leads her family along and this time it was her own mother who had doubts, "Emma you don't even know where you're going."

"Doesn't matter I have to find him. I'll track them down to hell if I have to." They do catch sight of Henry at the end of the dock but only just in time to see that he's about to be taken through a portal with Tamara and Greg.

Emma runs for it, she's determined to stop them and if not well she's going through with them but she doesn't get that chance. As the portal starts closing up and she is just about near the edge of the dock she is held firmly in place by two strong arms wrapped around her body. She fights, she struggles, but knows that it's too late. The portal is closed and Henry is gone.

****I just figured I would finish out the season since I kept up with all the other episodes but hold a second because I got a little something to add. One more Chapter to get back to the point of the story. Wait... I don't think I remember what the point was. lol ****


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Hook came through in his one heroic action of turning back around rather than escaping the destruction of the trigger. He offered his ship and the bean he had stolen from them. He never got the chance to explain his change of heart but none of that mattered to Emma. Now that Storybrooke was safe from the effects of that trigger she was on a mission to find Henry and bring him back home but she wasn't going to do this alone. The ship was now full of those people who mattered to Henry and were just as determined to get him back as she was.

They manage to get through the portal with Hook manning the helm, for he did have some familiarity in doing this, since he was able to bring Cora and himself to Storybrooke in much of the same way. Once they were through the portal they ended up on an open spans of water that none of them were familiar with, except for Hook of course.

As soon as the ship had evened out, and Hook got his heading from Gold, Emma made her way to the galley of the ship just needing the chance to run away for a moment. She doesn't get much of a chance to be alone though as David noticed her movements right away. He turns to his wife as if asking permission to handle things, "Go" She whispers. "She's been more responsive to you lately anyhow." He frowns at hearing this but doesn't take the time to argue. There will be time for some discussion later.

He heads down the stairs he saw Emma descending just a moment before. "Emma?" He calls quietly to her.

"Yeah?" She answers while facing away from the entryway of the galley.

"You alright?" David asks stepping closer to her.

"Yeah yeah..." She says in a rush. "I'm fine. I'm great." She says sarcastically still not turning to face him.

"Emma." He whispers her name. "Look... I'm sorry that I... you know... back at the harbor when I..."

"Held me back?" She says in a breathy laugh still not wanting to turn around. "It's fine. I'll... I'll get over it. I wasn't in my right mind I just sort of... panicked. Henry... this... I mean this wasn't supposed to happen. Not to him." She says with a sigh as she shifts her weight from one foot to another.

"None of us could have predicted the outcome of all of this and I'm sorry if my holding you back was selfish but I wasn't about to just let you go... not again." He says quite sternly. She chuckles at hearing this but still does not turn around and he can't help but notice this. "Emma?" He says her name with worry now as he reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder and turn her to face him. He finally sees what it is she was trying to hide, her tears. He smiles sadly at her before he pulls her in to a tight embrace. "You know... hiding your tears... that's definitely not something your mother does."

"Nope... definitely not." Emma mumbles into his shoulder. "So much for your theory on how I'm just like her." She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh as she pulls away from him and moves to take a seat on the bottom of the stairs in the entryway.

David follows her to sit just beside her and though it's a tight squeeze neither complains. "You don't have to try to put on a brave face for us you know? It's okay to cry. No one is going to judge you for it. No one is going to think you're weak."

"I know..." She starts to say in an exasperated way. "I know that. I just... hate it. I hate... being a mess. I hate that you both have this ability to break me like that." She says laughing now.

"We both? You mean your mother and I? How do we do that?" He asks with a quirk of his brow.

"All I have to do is look at you and I just fall apart. I hate it." She grumbles. "It doesn't help when I'm trying to be brave in front of Henry and you both act so... nurturing." She laughs again. "Especially her. She just... she's so... I don't know."

"Ah..." He says in realization. "I think you and I have the same weakness." He says with a nod and Emma turns to meet his gaze. "She has this ability to wear her emotions on her sleeve and you can't help but see what she's feeling. You end up feeling it to."

"Yeah." Emma says with a frown. "You know... I spent all of my life doing nothing but worrying about myself, protecting myself. I had to harden my heart and that's just how I got through life." She inhales sharply before she continues. "Then Henry came along and changed everything. He knocked that first chip in my wall and made way for... well... for Mary Margaret. It's like he handed over his little pick axe and she went to town." They both laugh now. Emma sniffles. "Now I have all of you here and it's definitely not helping." She says with a smile. "She's the first person to ever be there for me." She says with a shrug.

"She's still here for you... you know that right?" David suggests.

"I know... but... it's different now. Before she was just my friend. I mean even then I was hesitant to share things with her but once she started prying and getting under my skin I just felt so... exposed I guess. Then I'd start accidentally sharing things I didn't mean to like the time she was crying over you."

"I thought we went over this story once before?" David says nudging Emma with his elbow.

"Yeah we did... but I might have left some stuff out for your sake." She says with a nod. "At the time you were not helping in her efforts to keep away from you. She said you made quite the pleading case. She was busy attacking the dishes that day. It was actually really funny. I managed to convince her to stop cleaning and have a drink with me and with that drink I made quite the compelling speech. I said... _Here's the thing, I don't know a lot about relationships other than having many that failed, but generally speaking, if you think something you want to do is wrong it is." _She pauses to let that sink in.

"Wow. You continue to remind me of how much of a jerk I was." He says jokingly.

"My point in telling you all of this is that I was wrong about a lot of things. I was even wrong in a speech about right and wrong. I thought I had all the answers for her then but my life didn't apply to her. I was wrong in so many ways." She stops to think back on a few of those times. "Henry was poisoned because I didn't believe in curses... I was wrong. Regina tried telling us she was innocent when Archie appeared to be killed but I refused to believe her... I was wrong. When Mary Margaret and I were back in the other world I almost got us killed because I thought I could use my gun against an ogre... I was wrong. I thought there was no way I was _EVER_ going to call you Dad or her Mom. I was wrong... and let's not forget how wrong I was to think that I would make good on a promise to Henry that he wouldn't be left alone... granted I meant if we all died because of the self destruct thing. I never anticipated him being alone in another world with Tamara and Greg but again... I was wrong." She sighs deeply but is no longer crying.

"For all the times you have been wrong though, you were never too proud to deny it. You get that from your mother... the ability to look past your pride." He says putting his arm around her shoulder.

"... and just so you know... you're still wrong." They both hear from over their shoulder as Mary Margaret descends the stairs with Regina following closely behind her. "We will find Henry. You will keep your promise."

"I love how everyone in this family eavesdrops." Emma says as she and David get to a stand to allow the two women make their way in to the galley. They all share in a laugh.

"It's hard to deny yourself the pleasure of a good story." Regina offers with a small smile.

"Well there's a vast ocean around us now. Might as well use this time to share a couple more right?" David offers with a smile, pulling his wife close to hug her.

"Yeah. I'm sure Emma is tired of having to hear about how much like her mother she is. She might want to know some of her father's shortcomings as David Nolan. I thought I heard he was married to Princess Abigail." Mary Margaret offers with a knowing smirk.

"I knew she was listening to us." Emma says with a laugh now. "There was no way it was coincidence that she rolled over in her sleep when I came to that conclusion."

"You practically yelled it! Of course she was gonna hear it. I'm sure Henry heard it too!" Suddenly everyone is quiet at the mere mention of Henry's name but David tries to recover. "Maybe we should head out and try to get a story out of Hook. Someone needs to explain to us what we're up against and who better than a man who has been here before."

Regina and Mary Margaret walk up the stairs first and Emma intends to follow them but stops before taking the first step up. She turns suddenly and with a shy smile lurches forward to wrap her arms around David in a hug. He only smiles to himself and hugs her back.

****It wasn't a great ending I know. Sorry :(**

**I really appreciate all those Reads, Reviews, Follows and Favorites. Thanks for sticking around and I look forward to new things! **

**This story was a suggestion from a guest reader so... suggestions for new ones are always welcome. I'll give anything a try. :)**

**Bye Bye now :D****


End file.
